In To Kill A Mockingbird, provide three examples of what Jem says or does that indicates a change in his perspective on Boo Radley.

Jem starts out viewing Boo Radley as the neighborhood spook or boogie-man. When he tells Dill all about the mysterious house and shut-in, he describes Boo mostly using gossip told to him by Miss Stephanie Crawford. Things start to change, however, when Dill challenges Jem to get Boo Radley to come out of the house. This sparks a number of incidents where Jem and the kids are either playing in front of the house, acting out the Radley family history, or trying to peek into it, make contact with Boo, or otherwise entertain themselves with the idea of who Boo Radley is or might be. Three incidents are crucial to Jem changing his mind from Boo Radley being a spook to a real person: the mending of his pants, the gifts found in the tree, and the blanket wrapped around Scout.

First, when Jem and the kids are stalking the Radley place one summer night, Jem's pants get caught in the fence as they try to get away. Jem takes off his pants and leaves them behind in order to escape, but when he goes back for them in the middle of the night, he is shocked to discover the following:

"When I went back for my breeches—they were all in a tangle when I was gettin' out of 'em, I couldn't get 'em loose. . . When I went back, they were folded across the fence. . . like they were expectin' me. . . And something else—They'd been sewed up. Not like a lady sewed 'em, like something' I'd try to do. All crooked. It's almost like. . . somebody was readin' my mind" (58).

This is probably the first time that Jem feels as if Boo Radley is a friend rather than an enemy or spook.

Also, Jem and Scout had found little gifts like gum and pennies in the knothole of the Radley tree. After the pants incident, Jem starts thinking it might be Boo behind the gifts, too. He mentions to Scout that they should write a thank you note to whomever is behind the gifts and leave it in the knothole. As Jem starts writing the letter, he says, "Okay, Dear Mister. . ." The unsuspecting Scout says that it might be a woman like Miss Maudie; whereupon Jem says, "Ar-r, Miss Maudie can't chew gum" (61). This slip of Jem's "Ar-r" is the beginning of Boo Radley's first name, which is Arthur. He accidentally does this a couple of times, which suggests that Jem has figured out that it is Boo who leaves the gifts and possibly mended his pants as well.

A third clue that shows Jem's perspective about Boo Radley changes is the night of Miss Maudie's house fire. As Jem and Scout are standing in front of the Radley home watching the flames on a cold winter night, Scout receives a mysterious blanket around her shoulders. When Atticus later sees the blanket back at the Finch house, Jem realizes that Boo must have put that blanket on Scout's shoulders. Jem says the following about the situation:

"Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you. . . Just think, Scout, . . .if you'd just turned around, you'da seen him" (72).

As a result of the gifts in the tree, the mended pants, and the blanket around Scout's shoulders, Jem's perspective changes along with the evidence. He learns for himself about the character of Boo, and that is one of friendship and peace. Miss Stephanie Crawford would have people believe he's a violent nighttime stalker, but fortunately for the kids, Jem figures out through his own experience that Boo Radley is a friend.