Boo's Transformation In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the story To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem’s perception of Boo Radley changes as Jem learns to understand Boo and empathize with him. Jem starts to acknowledge Boo’s situation as his curiosity gets the better of him. His curiosity leads to Jem’s horrifying description of Boo, and his father's interrogation. With those experiences, Jem learns to act maturely, and think critically. Boo’s empathy through his events of mending Jem’s pants, giving gifts in the Radley tree, and Mr. Radley’s cementing of the tree, causes Jem to understand that different people have their own way of doing things, and leads him to become more empathetic for Boo and others, setting a good example for Scout, and the reader.
At the beginning of the book, Jem thought of Boo

However, on Dill’s last day at Maycomb, Dill and Jem decided to sneak onto the Radley property. They get scared away by the blast of a shotgun, and in the chaos of escaping, Jem’s pants get stuck on the Radley fence. Later at night, Jem decides to go and retrieve his pants, and when he does he is shocked. “ ‘They’d been sewed up. Not like a lady sewed ‘em, like somethin’ I’d try to do. All crooked. It’s almost like—’ ‘—somebody knew you were comin‘ back for ’em.’ Jem shuddered. ‘Like somebody was readin‘ my mind… like somebody could tell what I was gonna do. Can’t anybody tell what I’m gonna do lest they know me, can they, Scout?’ ” (78). This event is a landmark for Jem’s understanding of Boo Radley and his overall maturity. His understanding of Boo rose as he realized Boo and him aren't so different after all, and that Boo is just misunderstood. This is shown when Jem says, “Can’t anybody tell what I’m gonna do lest they know me, can they, Scout?” further proving that Boo is misunderstood since he went out of his way to empathize with someone who just broke into his yard. In the quote, it is also prevalent that Jem’s overall maturity has gone up from this experience because he now recognizes that different people like to show their appreciation in different ways and that Boo Radley did this by trying to mend his pants. With his newfound wisdom, Jem can now empathize with Boo