To Kill a Mockingbird: Chapter 31 Summary & Analysis

Boo stands and coughs. Scout leads him to Jem’s room so he can say goodnight. Scout takes Boo’s hand, leads him to Jem’s bed, and encourages him to stroke Jem’s hair. When he’s ready to leave, Scout leads him to the porch. There, Boo whispers and asks Scout to lead him home. Scout knows she can’t be seen leading him, so she asks him to bend his arm, so it looks like he’s escorting her. She leads him right to his front door and never sees him again. Scout thinks that neighbors give, and Boo gave them gifts and their lives—but they never returned the favor, which makes Scout feels sad.

Scout stands on the front porch and looks out. She stands in front of the window and in her mind, watches Miss Stephanie gossip with Miss Rachel while Miss Maudie gardens and children scamper around. She can see children playing in the yard and in the fall, she sees them find gifts in the tree. She sees the fire, a man shooting a dog, and the children’s hearts break. Scout sees that tonight, Boo’s children needed him. She thinks that Atticus was right—it’s impossible to know a person until one stands in their shoes, but she thinks that standing on the Radley porch is enough.

Scout feels old on her walk home. She knows that Jem will be furious he missed seeing Boo Radley and thinks that there’s nothing more for them to learn except algebra. She runs upstairs and finds Atticus in Jem’s room. He tries to send her to bed but then allows her to stay. Sleepily, Scout asks what Atticus is reading, and Atticus shows her The Gray Ghost. He says it’s one of the few things he hasn’t read. When Scout asks Atticus to read it aloud, Atticus insists it’s too scary and she’s had enough fright for one night, but Scout insists that she and Jem weren’t scared. She declares that nothing’s scary, except in books. Atticus begins to read out loud.

Scout falls asleep and wakes when Atticus nudges her with his toe. She mutters the gist of the story as Atticus leads her to bed, puts on her pajamas, and tucks her in. Scout says that the story is about kids who thought someone was messing up their clubhouse, but when they finally saw the culprit, he was innocent and very nice. Atticus says that most people are nice when you get to know them. He spends the rest of the night in Jem’s room.