In addition to leaving them gifts in the tree, Boo was helpful to Jem and Scout several times.
According to Miss Maudie, mockingbirds never bring harm to anyone. They are innocent, and just bring joy to the people around them rather than being parasitic. Miss Maudie’s praise of mockingbirds results from Atticus’s admonition to his children that they can shoot at other birds, but never a mockingbird.
Boo Radley is the mockingbird of the story because he is the target of gossip and ridicule, but he never does anything to harm anyone. He is just a shy, reclusive man who made some bad choices when he was younger and paid the price the rest of his life. The children learn that Boo is not a scary monster. He is actually a good friend.
The first instance of Boo being a good friend is the incident with Jem’s pants. Dill was convinced that if Boo Radley just came out and sat on the porch to eat some ice cream, he would feel better. He and Jem tried to get Boo to come out, wanting to leave a note for him. Jem lost his pants during the incident, getting them caught on the fence. When he went to return to them that night, he discovered that someone had not only extricated them from the fence, but also made a crude attempt at sewing them up.
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.” (Ch. 7)
Jem is somewhat baffled by this development, and it enhances his understanding of Arthur “Boo” Radley. Boo did not want Jem to get into trouble for losing the pants or ripping them. Far from being the neighborhood monster Jem made him out to be, Boo was actually acting like a friend.
When the entire town of Maycomb turned out to help Miss Maudie with her fire, Boo was too shy to help put out the fire or save furniture. But what he did do was incredibly sweet. After the fire, the family noticed a blanket draped across Scout’s shoulders. She had no recollection of it being put there, so enraptured by the fire was she. Boo snuck up behind her to give her the blanket, a friendly gesture that she didn’t even know about until later.
“…Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.”
“Thank who?” I asked.
“Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Ch. 8)
Jem was immediately concerned that Atticus would return the blanket and get Boo in trouble. He tried to explain to Atticus everything at once, to help him understand that Boo was their secret friend. Atticus was able to appreciate the delicacy of the situation and understand that the childlike Boo’s brother would not be pleased to learn he had been at the fire.
A final instance of Boo’s helping the children was the most important. After the trial, Bob Ewell blamed Atticus for making a fool of him and airing out all of his family business. He targeted Scout and Jem, attempting to attack them at night on Halloween. Boo rescued them, killing Bob in the process.
The sheriff Heck Tate and Atticus decided not to tell anyone what Boo had done. When Atticus asked Scout if she understood, she made a connection between Boo and Atticus’s earlier advice.
“Yes sir, I understand,” I reassured him. “Mr. Tate was right.”
Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me. “What do you mean?”
“Well, it’d be sort of like shootin‘ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Ch. 30)
Scout understood that the notoriety that Boo would get from having saved the children would be too much for him. He was shy and sensitive, and just wanted to lurk in the shadows and the background of their lives. Scout made sure he understood that she was grateful for what he had done.
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