Analyze the book's final chapter and its theme(s).Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper
Lee, the sympathy motif is introduced in Chapter 1 when Atticus instructs
Scout

'You
never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of
view-....until you climb into his skin and walk around in
it.'

Now, in the final
chapter this motif comes to fruition as Scout, as she stands on the porch of Boo Radley
and surveys the neighborhood from his point of view, arrives at an understanding of the
reclusive "mockingbird" that is Boo Radley as a man like any other
man:

Atticus
was right.  One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes
and walk around in them.  Just standing on the Radley porch was enough....I had never
seen our neighborhood from this
angle.

She also understands
how much Boo has done for her and Jem and Dill, while at the same time they have not
reciprocated:

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We never put back into the tree what we took out
of it:  we had given him nothing, and it made me
sad.

This remark touches upon
the mockingbird motif which acts as a device by which the two plot elements are
unified.  For, the first part of the novel and the Boo Radley mystery, parallels the
second part which is concerned with the Tom Robinson trial. Harmless members of society,
both of these characters can be viewed as a mockingbird; for, while both are innocent
people, they both are persecuted by society.

And, as Scout
recalls that she feels very old, and there "wasn't much else for us to learn," the novel
ends with the maturation of Scout, thus defining To Kill a
Mockingbird as a bildungsroman, or novel of maturation. 
For, Scout and Jem have come to understand why their father has taught them what he has,
as well as why their father has chosen certain courses of
action.

Another motif present in Chapter 31 that is tied to
the first part of the novel is the recurring idea of education.  In Chapters 1 and 2 the
reader understands that the education that Atticus gives his children surpasses that of
the rigid classroom.  They learn much from Atticus--humility, fortitude, honesty,
fairness; they learn that simple observation of human nature brings great
knowledge. 

With Scout and Jem's new knowledge comes the
end of their superstitions and fears.  As Scout and Jem have learned more about their
world their fear of "haints" has disappeared as well as their fear of Boo Radley.  (The
bildingsroman theme is also
here.)

Clearly, the final chapter ties together the two
parts of the novel as well as underscoring certain motifs and
themes.