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I need quotes about Boo Radley from the book To Kill A Mocking bird that show his bravery as well as his shy nature.

In Chapter 8, Miss Maudie's house catches on fire. During the night, many people help put the fire out. Boo Radley had placed a blanket on Scout's shoulders while she watched the fire, but she didn't notice. This is an instance that shows Boo's bravery (helping out with the fire) but it also shows his shy nature. He puts the blanket on Scout but avoids being noticed. 



We’d better keep this and the blanket to ourselves. Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.”


“Thank who?” I asked.


“Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.”



At the end of the novel, Boo Radley saves Jem and Scout when Bob Ewell attacks them. This clearly shows his bravery. Shortly after this, he is with Atticus, Tate, and Scout as they watch over Jem. Scout notes his shyness: 



Boo saw me run instinctively to the bed where Jem was sleeping, for the same shy smile crept across his face. Hot with embarrassment, I tried to cover up by covering Jem up. 



At the end of Chapter 30, Tate refuses to put Boo through a trial. Boo killed Bob Ewell while defending Scout and Jem. Tate sees no point in putting the incredibly shy Boo on such a public display: 



To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an‘ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on my head. If it was any other man, it’d be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch. 



This notion of "sin" connects with the theme that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. That is, it is a sin to kill or harm the innocent. 

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