In chapter 5, Jem and Dill become closer friends because they are on a mission to get Boo Radley to come out of his house. Scout, on the other hand, has been reluctant to do anything related to Boo Radley since Atticus caught them playing a game about his life. As a result, Scout is left out of some of the boys' planning and scheming. Scout explains Jem's and Dill's friendship as follows:
Dill was becoming something of a trial anyway, following Jem about. He had asked me earlier in the summer to marry him, then he promptly forgot about it... said I was the only girl he would ever love, then he neglected me. I beat him up twice but it did not good, he only grew closer to Jem. They spent days together in the treehouse plotting and planning, calling me only when they needed a third party (41-42).
This passage shows the decline of one friendship and the emergence of a new one. Other than Cecil Jacobs, Scout has no other friends to play with, so Scout visits Miss Maudie when the boys are playing together. Miss Maudie is an adult friend who treats the children with respect and kindness. When she bakes cakes, she will bake three little ones just for Scout, Jem, and Dill. Scout describes her appreciation for Miss Maudie's friendship as follows:
Jem and I had considerable faith in Miss Maudie. She had never told on us, had never played cat-and-mouse with us, she was not at all interested in our private lives. She was our friend (44-45).
Another time when friendship is finally realized is in chapter 8, during the night of Miss Maudie's house fire. While Jem and Scout watch the fire from across the street at the Radleys' house, Boo Radley comes out and slips a blanket around Scout's shoulders without her knowing. This act of kindness comes after Jem and Scout find gifts from Boo in the knothole of the oak tree on the Radleys' lot. When the children get home after the fire and discover the blanket, Jem tells his father and sister, respectively:
Atticus, I swear to God he ain't ever harmed us, he ain't ever hurt us, he coulda cut my throat from ear to ear that night but he tried to mend my pants instead... he ain't ever hurt us, Atticus.
...Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you (72).
This is a fun passage because Jem feels he has enough evidence to declare Boo Radley is not an enemy, but a friend. Boo Radley has never done anything but kind things for the children, such as mending Jem's pants, giving them anonymous gifts, and watching over them during the night of the fire. Boo is very quiet and shy, but that doesn't mean he isn't one of the children's friends. In fact, he later proves to be one of the best friends they have because he saves their lives.
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