How does the kids' notion of Boo Radley develop from the beginning of the novel to the end

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How does the kids' notion of Boo Radley develop from the beginning of the novel to the end?

 "Boo was about six and a half feet tall … there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped and he drooled most of the time."

At the beginning of the novel, Boo is to the children mainly what they have heard as neighborhood rumors and interpreted in their own imaginations. The Radley place is shrouded in an aura of mystery and creepiness for them; they are scared to even run past the house, nuts from the Radley trees are considered poison, and when Jem retrieves the tire from the Radley yard, it is considered an extremely brave feat. Thus at this stage, the only relationship the children have with Boo is that of fear and intrigue.

But slowly, almost unconsciously, the children begin to want to know more about Boo Radley, and are not just satisfied by rumors and gossip, a sign of maturity. Initially, it is Dill who wants to lure Boo out of the house, so that he "can see what he looks like." This shows that the children are no longer willing to depend upon what they have heard, and want to find out for themselves what Boo is really like. They try sending notes to Boo, through a fishing pole, asking him to come out and have a talk; later they sneak into the Radleys' yard, hoping to look through a window and catch a glimpse of Boo so that they can actually see what he looks like. Later, Scout's talk with Miss Maudie and the manner in which she asks whether all the rumours about Boo or true, implies that she does not depend on neighbourhood gossip anymore. Furthermore Miss Maudie confirms that Boo is not a terrible phantom: rather a normal human who is kept away from the outside world by his tyrannically religious family.

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It is Jem who first realizes that Boo Radley is not the vicious monster he is made out to be. While escaping from Mr. Radley in his yard, Jem's pants get torn and he has to leave them behind. On returning to get them back, he finds them mended and folded, "almost as if someone knew I (Jem) was to going to come for them." Later, the kids discover a series of presents left in the knothole of one of the Radley trees, apparently for them, including two figures resembling Jem and Scout carved in soap. It is then that ...

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