At the beginning of Wh3n, Mrs. Duncan is characterized as a sweet, caring and giving person. Her main motivation is to care for people she doesn’t have to because she misses her husband. Mrs. Duncan is very sweet to Maddie as she goes though the murders of people she “knew”. “She set that down next to the plate of cookies, and pulled a chair next to me and held my hand, repeating over and over again that I’d be alright.”(141). Mrs. Duncan is showing how sweet she is by calming Maddie down after the FBI searches her house. Mrs. Duncan is also very sweet to Maddie when she gets hurt. “My kindly neighbor got to work, and in no time I was patched up and feeling a little better.”(49). This shows how sweet and kind Mrs. Duncan is to her neighbor.