In Chapter 31 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout leads Boo Radley into Jem's bedroom after Atticus has thanked him for his children. Taking his hand, Scout politely tells Boo, "You can pet him, Mr. Arthur, he's asleep....Go on, sir...." And, after "learning his body English," Scout understands that Boo is ready to leave. So, in ladylike fashion, she asks Boo to bend his arm in order that she can loop hers in his in order to allow him to escort her to his porch.
Having arrived on his porch, Boo quietly opens the door, steps in, and seen no more by Scout. But, the gift of Boo's friendship has taught her much as she reflects,
Neighbors bring food with death, and flowers with sickness, and little things in between. Boo Radley was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it; we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.
Truly, Scout learns the lesson of Atticus, for she now stands in someone else's shoes: "Just standing on the Radley porch was enough." As she looks at her neighborhood, recalling the past year, Scout views the past events from the perspective on this porch of the Radleys. She reflects that she and Jem will soon be grown and have little else to learn.
After she returns home, Scout asks Atticus to read to her, and as she drifts to sleep, she tells her father that she was not afraid and Boo was really very nice. Kindly, Atticus responds, "Most people are when you finally see them." He knows, too, that Scout has matured.
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