"Scout, I think I"m beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time...it's because he wants to stay inside." (Jem, Chapter 23)
Jem is so angry with the outcome of the trial he almost cannot see straight. As a child, he doesn't understand that if he can see Tom Robinson's innocence, why can't everyone else? In the chapters following the verdict, Jem begins to understand what prejudice means to the town of Maycomb, and why Tom Robinson never had a chance.
He reveals his understanding of this with the above quote. Suddenly - Boo Radley is no longer strange, or if he is, Jem would rather be on his side than the side of everyone else.
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