“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” is one of Harper Lee’s most memorable lines from To Kill a Mockingbird (39). The reason why is because its lesson is found throughout the story in the most unexpected ways. This theory is taught to the characters Jem and Scout through others such as Boo Radley. This is why Boo is a catalyst through which Jem and Scout are able to learn empathy from the rumors circulating around him, a surprising night, and gifts.
At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, a game depicting Boo Radley’s life is acted out by the Finch children and Dill, the neighbor boy, based on rumors they had heard from local gossips, clearly showing how he is misunderstood. This game is described by Scout as a “melancholy…drama” which is based off of “neighborhood legend” symbolizing the ambiguous life of Boo Radley (Lee 52). Obviously many of the citizens in Maycomb do not think of Boo as a normal human being. Slander is passed from household to household about him, influencing the community and eventually
…show more content…
On a summer night, the three of them approached the Radley house trying to look for Boo. They did not stay long though because a shot was fired at them and they ran away, Jem tearing and losing his pants in the process. However, Jem reveals to Scout that “When [he] went back they were folded across the fence [and] They’d been sewed up” (Lee 78). This is a clear effort by Boo to be kind to Jem. Boo obviously has feelings and emotions (disproving the assumptions that he is a monster) if he tries to sew the pants of a boy he hardly knows. Jem is now able to recognize the attempt that Boo made and can appreciate the thought put in by him slowly learning more about the mysterious man and his