To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a courageous story of leadership and gallantry. This book tells the story of a young girl, Scout, and the town of Maycomb. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are numerous quotes that you should bring to your attention. By far, the most important quote describes what Boo Radley experienced all those years he was cooped up indoors: “A boy trotted down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole beside him. A man waited with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children were playing in the yard with their friend, staging a strange drama of their own invention.…. Fallen, and her children trotted back and forth around the corner, the day's misfortunes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped in front of an oak tree, happy, perplexed and apprehensive. Winter, and her children trembled at the gate, silhouetted against a burning house…. Summer, and he saw his children's hearts break. Autumn again, and Boo's children needed him. Atticus was right. He once said that you never really know a man until you put yourself in his shoes and walk around wearing them. All it took was simply to stand on the Radley porch” (Lee 236-237). All these years he has watched Scout and Jem grow. All those years he imagined were his. The characterization is significant because Scout has realized that Boo Radley is not the irrational killer he is portrayed as; he is kind and generally takes care of children. Scout recognized who Boo really was and recognized the affection and reinforcement he had given Jem and her over the years. She saw him observing their experiences, their hardships, their summer sorrows, and watching them mature over the years of their lives. Jem rolls Scout down the… center of the card… characterizes him as a creepy man, and by the end of the book he is the sympathetic person he always has been. Then they finally see him for who he really is. Throughout Scout's childhood, she had to go through much more than a child her age would have to go through, yet she never knew that there was always a person there for her even when she didn't notice them; Boo Radley. In society we have all these stereotypes that are supposed to represent us and tell us who we should be. Yet, the only person who can tell us who we are is ourselves. What I'm trying to say is that just because people see you as this specific label doesn't define who you are as a person. This is what Scout realizes at the end of the book; that Boo wasn't quite what he was portrayed to be in the town of Maycomb, and now he knows the real hardships of life that many people face.