Why did Jem and Dill wait until Dill's last night to look into the Radley House in Chapter 6 of To Kill A Mockingbird?

At the end of Chapter 5, Atticus catches the three children making fun of Boo Radley. Atticus tells them to stop tormenting Arthur/Boo Radley. After this, they want to be stealthy in their games with Boo in order to avoid getting into trouble.

In Chapter 6, one of the many reasons Jem gives as to why they have waited until night time, is that Atticus will be so focused on reading that he won't hear them nor will he be concerned with what they are doing. 

Being dramatic to the point of absurdity, but with some real common sense logic, Jem adds that by waiting until the end of summer, if Boo kills them, they will miss school instead of vacation. 

Jem concludes with the practical reason that it is easier to see into a dark house when it is dark outside than it is when it is light outside. 

Jem gives Scout strategic reasons as to why they have waited.

Perhaps there is another reason that they decide to get a glimpse of Boo at the last minute. Jem doesn't mention this overtly but since Dill is leaving, he might have a sense of urgency to do something daring with the little time they have left before Dill goes back home and before he and Scout return to school. 

What statement by Jem in chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird convinces Scout to peek into the Radley window?

In Chapter 6 of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem at first does not understand or feel comfortable with the plan by Jem and Dill to look into the window of the Radley residence at night (in order to try to see the mysterious Boo Radley). When Scout questions her brother, Jem replies with some reasonable explanations of his plan but also with a good deal of irony and sarcasm. He saves his most potent comment, however, for last:

“Scout, I’m tellin’ you for the last time, shut your trap or go home – I declare you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!”

“With that,” Scout explains, “I had no option but to join them.”

This exchange is typical of much of the comedy of the novel. Scout can withstand just about any other kind of rebuke, but being told that she is behaving “like a girl” – especially when she prides herself on being a tomboy – is just too much for her. After hearing this retort from her brother, she immediately, and without any further explanation, chooses to join Jem and Dill in their plan. The comic tension between brother and sister, both here and elsewhere in the book, is one of the most appealing aspects of the novel – an aspect to which many siblings can fondly relate.

What statement by Jem in chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird convinces Scout to peek into the Radley window?

Jem says, "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home--I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day!"

Jem and Dill were Scout's only real "summer" friends, and they were both boys, so she needed to keep up.  At this point in the story, Scout doesn't think there is much good in being a female.  Later in the story, observation and interaction with Calpurnia open her eyes to the fact that there is "some skill" necessary to be a girl.

What statement by Jem in chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird convinces Scout to peek into the Radley window?

Jem does the worst thing that a brother can do to his younger, tomboy sister.  He suggests that Scout is too much of a girl to handle this type of adventure.  Scout, as evidenced by her choice of clothing, isn't fond of the idea of being a "girl."  She wants to be like her older brother and her father, both of whom she idolizes.  Jem understands this and plays his cards right.

In chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird, why do Jem and Dill peek into the Radley window?

The mysterious figure of Boo Radley is woven throughout the fabric of Harper Lee’s coming-of-age novel To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the deep South of the 1930s. Introduced in the novel’s opening chapter, Boo and his family are the source of young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch’s and her older brother Jem’s summertime fun. Along with Dill, their friend who spends summers in Lee’s fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, the children have conjured in their collective imagination a threatening, elusive figure the physical sighting of whom becomes an obsession.

In chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, the novel’s narrator, describes the evening when the two boys, with Scout along for the adventure, decide to climb under the Radley family’s fence in an attempt at spying the elusive quarry. The myth of Boo Radley has grown in direct proportion to the length of time since his last genuine appearance in public years earlier. To the children, he is a source of fascination, and their attempts at viewing him turn out a little differently than expected when Mr. Radley, Boo’s protective father, reacts to the unwelcome intrusion into his backyard by firing his shotgun in the air, prompting the children to flee in terror and Jem to lose his pants in the process. The rationale Jem and Dill had provided for this risky and frightening endeavor was provided in the following passage from chapter 6:

Dill and Jem were simply going to peep in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could get a look at Boo Radley, and if I didn’t want to go with them I could go straight home and keep my fat flopping mouth shut, that was all.

“But what in the sam holy hill did you wait till tonight?”

Because nobody could see them at night, because Atticus would be so deep in a book he wouldn’t hear the Kingdom coming, because if Boo Radley killed them they’d miss school instead of vacation, and because it was easier to see inside a dark house in the dark than in the daytime, did I understand?

So, the reason Dill and Jem give for peeking in the Radley family’s window is simply to “get a look” at Boo Radley. The rationale for the timing is explained as necessary to minimize the prospect of being caught, or worse, and because the exterior darkness (it is night) would make Boo easier to see inside a lighted house.

In chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird, why do Jem and Dill peek into the Radley window?

Jem and Dill tell Scout that they are trying to peer into the Radley window because they want to send him a note.  They want to be nice and ask him to come out so they can be friends.

Dill said, "We're askin' him real politely to come out sometimes, and tell us what he does in there- we said we wouldn't hurt him and we'd buy him an ice cream." (ch 5)

Throughout the book so far, the children have been trying to get Boo Radley to come out.  At first it was just a game, and they thought of Boo as some kind of monster. 

Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained (ch 1)

By this point they have changed their attitude.  They now see Boo as a human being.  They want to write him a nice note.  They want him to come out and play.  They are not afraid.  Of course they are still afraid.  Atticus has told them to leave Boo and the Radleys alone, but they are not being obedient.  They are too curious.

Jem uses a pole to try to deliver a message to Boo; this shows his bravery is limited. (enotes ch 5 summary)

The children are beginning to be more mature here, but they are basically still acting like kids.

In chapter 6 of To Kill a Mockingbird, why do Jem and Dill peek into the Radley window?

Scout, listening to the warnings from Atticus about leaving Boo Radley alone, is trying to do just that when Dill and Jem hatch the "let's look into his window" scheme. She also has realized that Boo is probably often watching all of them in their different shenanigans; the day she fell into his yard out of the tire she heard someone laughing. So, she knows that they are probably being watched by Boo, and that Atticus has asked them to leave the poor man alone.

So, Scout protests Dill and Jem's plans to peek in the window. She is scared, she is whining, and she won't stop pestering them. The first thing Dill and Jem try is getting her to go home. She is immediately suspicious. The second thing they try is telling Scout to "keep her trap shut," and then finally, Jem declares, "I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day!" That does it. Scout hates being called a girl; she hates everything girlie, and can't pass up a challenge. Her reaction to that threat and challenge is "With that, I had no option but to join them."

What four reasons do Jem and Dill give for peeking into the Radleys' window in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Jem, Dill, and Scout go out for a walk in Chapter 6. It is on this walk that the four reasons come up. Jem keeps suggesting to Scout that she should return home. Finally when Scout convinces him to tell her what they are doing, she wants to know why they waited until that evening.

Two of the reasons have to do with the darkness. First, the dark would protect them from being seen. Second, if it was light outside, it would be more difficult to see inside since the house would be dark. Another reason is that Atticus would not catch them due to his usual practice of reading at that time. Finally, a fourth reason is that it was the end of summer, so if they died by Boo Radley's hand, they would not miss any vacation.

This causes Scout to argue but Jem eventually convinces her to come by saying, "...you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!”

What reason do Jem and Dill give for trying to peek into the Radley window on that particular night in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Jem and Dill peek in the Radley window to get a look at Boo Radley.

Boo Radley is the neighborhood monster.  All of the children are afraid of him, and even the adults spread rumors about him.  He has stayed in his house since he was a teenager, and he never comes out.  Naturally he becomes a boogeyman for the neighborhood.

Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. (Ch. 1)

When Dill joins Scout and Jem in Maycomb, he is fascinated by Boo Radley.  The children’s new game becomes to try to get Boo Radley to come out. Although they make up all kinds of stories about him and reenact his history in the yard, the children are really just curious.  Atticus tells them to stay away from Boo Radley.

Dill says that they are going to leave a note for Boo Radley offering him ice cream.  He thinks that if he comes out to sit a spell he’ll feel better.  Scout does not like the whole plan.  She wants nothing to do with Boo Radley.  They explain to her that this night is perfect.

Because nobody could see them at night, because Atticus would be so deep in a book he wouldn’t hear the Kingdom coming, because if Boo Radley killed them they’d miss school instead of vacation, and because it was easier to see inside a dark house in the dark than in the daytime, did I understand? (Ch. 6)

Unfortunately, Jem gets scared off and loses his pants.  Scout does not want him to go back for them because Nathan Radley might shoot him, but he says he has to. He does not want Atticus to find out that they disobeyed him, because Atticus would be disappointed in him.