Perhaps the neighbor who exerts the most
profound influence upon Jem and Scout is Boo Radley. For, he is the neighbor who
teaches the children the meanings of Atticus's
aphorisms
- 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 - ...it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird - Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand.
It is knowing that you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway, and you see
it through to the end.
Boo Radley has remained
in his house, but he has lived vicariously through Jem and Scout as they have scampered
through his yard attempting to peer into a window, left things for him in the tree
knothole, and walked up and down the street. While Atticus has taught them to not
bother Boo, Boo himself has taught them what kindness is by sewing Jem's britches, by
leaving them little gifts in the tree, and, most of all, by coming to their defense as
Bob Ewell attacks them. In the final chapter of Harper Lee's novel, Scout looks around
as she stands on the Radley porch:
Atticus was right. One time he said you never
really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing
on the Radley porch was
enough.
Another neighbor is
Miss Stephanie Crawford, who teaches the children what is not charity. This town scold
maligns poor Boo by saying that he is a maniac who sits with his scissors, waiting to
cut unsuspecting victims: "Lord knows what he's doin' or thinkin'." She also claims
that at night he is a peeping-tom, spying on the neighbors in their beds. When Miss
Maudie accuses her of moving closer to the window so that Boo will see her better, the
children applaud Miss Maudie's castigation of Miss Crawford's
hypocrisy.
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