"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." A quote by Atticus Finch a loving single father of two children in a novel by Harper Lee. The story takes place during the 1930s and the Great Depression, in a small (made-up) town called Maycomb Alabama. Scout now an adult is narrating what she experienced and felt in ages 6-9. She gives details of her family, school, and just everything she goes through. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, she also talks about her brother Jem, who starts as a careless young boy that slowly starts getting more mature. Jem changing throughout the story helps show a little bit more of how the story develops and why character development is important in making a good novel. To begin, Jem at the beginning of the book didn’t care about what he was doing/saying and the consequences that came with it. He just did whatever he pleased while trying …show more content…
At the beginning, I believe Jem was on level 1 of the KSOMD ( Kohlberg stage of moral development). To prove this statement there was the time in the novel when Narrator/Scout talks about the time Dill dared Jem to touch the Radley’s house in chapter one. He tries to convince Dill not not make him do it, fearing that he may get in trouble, but in the end, he ends up accepting it. The reason why was “he has never denied a dare” and he didn’t want to start now.. This shows, that he tries to follow the rules, but sometimes chooses self reward over the rules (reward of being known to never deny dares), two stages in level one of KSOMD. As the story continues, he changes to level two when he tells Dill that he is going to tell Atticus that he ran away. This shows, that he wants Dill to learn his lesson. He also wants to try to take more responsibility over the
Jem’s perception of bravery has changed throughout the course of the book. His maturity is a result of Atticus’s actions around him. At the beginning of the book, Jem is dared by his neighbour Dill to touch the door of the Radley’s; the
As To Kill a Mockingbird progresses, Jem takes definitive steps toward maturity with his actions in the tire and flower incidents, for example. He would later go on to repair the flowerbed he destroyed, and take greater care to protect Scout. Through his actions, we can see Jem develop a sense of morals and responsibility that would prove to be a lifesaver.
Like the book had been stated jem was only 10 years old when this book started. Now most 10 year olds have almost no knowledge of the world. This was expected but as the book represents jem shows us this multiple times. The first big example in the book was when scout had found the a piece of gum in the tree hole, the text states, “Don't eat things you find scout.” This is showing that Atticus has taught him at a very young age or Jem caught on to the idea dn knew it was bad. Another example in the book was when Jem wanted to contact Boo radley or Arther. Jem knew,”If i had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning then my funeral would have been held that afternoon.” He had made sure they went together just in case something bad were to happen.
Throughout the novel, Jem is influenced by a variety of people and circumstances. His surroundings and the people that he grew up with influenced his outlook on life and persuaded him into a well developed young man. First and foremost, his father Atticus established morals, and guidelines and consequently lead him into adulthood. He provided wisdom and insight into a future for Jem, free from inequality and abundant in fairness. Mrs. Dubose, although biased and cruel, was a figure of courage for Jem to learn from. Throughout the case, Jem was constantly reiterating his opinion on how he believed none of it was right. At the end of the novel, Jem was put in the worst situation at such a young age, almost being murdered. Luckily, the outcome
In books, many characters go through moral development. The book To Kill A Mockingbird shows many examples of characters that go through this development and characters that help others develop. While there are many different characters in the book, the focus is on the development of Jem and Scout Finch with the help of Atticus and Calpurnia. The kids are introduced when they are young and over the span of the book, the adults teach and help them, making them have a different understanding of the world only two years later. With the guidance of Atticus and Cal, Jem and Scout go through a big moral change.
Jem says “Scout I think I'm beginning to understand something..” (pg 231) this shows that jem is understanding more about boo and isn't judging as much. Scout and Jem thought that Atticus couldn't do anything because he was to old and boring, but after Atticus shot the dog they learnt that he actually could do stuff and shouldn't judge until they really knew him. “Naw scout, it's something you wouldn't understand. Atticus is real old, but I wouldn't care if he couldn't do anything. I wouldn't care if he couldn't do a blessed thing. This proves that jem is understanding not to judge
In the beginning of the novel, Jem is a kid who likes to listen and talk about the town gossip, Boo Radley, and someone who runs around with his younger sister and their friend Dill all summer long just like any other kid. During this time in To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem liked to make up silly games and come up with his own ideas of Arthur Radley. He, like any other boy ten-year-old boy, liked adventure, excitement, and had curiosity about his surroundings and the people around him. In the novel, it says Jem has never turned down a dare before which makes him a type of fearless. Jem would try to be courageous by running up to the Radley house to touch it proving to Dill he is not scared.
In the novel to Kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee, readers can see Jem finch mature and grow. He learns more about life but loses some of his innocence along the way. He had his own opinions on his father; Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson’s trial. Throughout the story he gains the knowledge of pure hate and how cruel one can be to another man. He realizes the idea of why Atticus feels the need to defend Tom. His thought of Maycomb began to change which corresponds to the idea that he lost a lot too. He then learns to not be segregational like the rest of the Maycomb crowd. Therefore, in the beginning of the novel, Jem is focused on playing games and wanting to learn how to shoot; however, by the end of the story, he learns the importance of defending
At the beginning of the book, he was doing anything that he was dared to do and believing that he was courageous. However, towards the middle of the book, Jem had started to mature. His actions towards Scout about her actions showed that he had begun to mature, since he wasn’t as tolerable towards childish actions, but not mature enough to hold his temper. Early in the book, Jem innocently played with Scout and Dill; he used his imagination, took dares, and ran around town. In the middle of the book, Jem was at a stage where he did not want to play with Dill and Scout because he claimed that they were too immature for him, a mature middle-school boy; however, his actions towards both of them were not showing of this self-proclaimed maturity.
Atticus takes very good care of his children, however he is a full time lawyer and cannot always be there for his kids. Jem, just like his father, is very hard working and is always there when someone needs help. He likes to act grown up to show his independence, however secretly has a childish side of him that loves playing games with Scout and their friend Dill. By playing these games, he is able to watch after Scout and make sure she is well taken care of. “As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon”(Lee 77).
After the trial Jem realizes that there are some bad people in this world, understanding how things actually work. You can tell Jem was affected because “His face was streaked with angry tears”(Lee 284) and he was obviously surprised by the way people can really act. Later after Jem was becoming more and
To Kill a Mockingbird, a beautiful coming-of-age novel written by Harper Lee, follows the moral development of young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. At the beginning of the novel, Scout, her brother Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch, and their friend Charles Baker “Dill” Harris taunt their mysterious neighbor, Arthur “Boo” Radley. The story follows a Southern Gothic style, in which the monster is Boo Radley; the victims are Scout, Jem, and Dill; and the hero Atticus Finch. The children view Boo Radley as an insane madman who guiltlessly stabbed his father. However, their view of Radley begins to change once they receive gifts in the knothole of the Radley House tree.
First and foremost, Jem's attitude and interactions with other characters changed dramatically from the beginning of the novel compared to his attitude and interactions at the end of the novel. These changes were due to Atticus's impact on Jem's ability to search for the respect and dignity of all human being. Nobly one of the ways Atticus impacts Jem is through communication. An example would be when Jem was younger, Atticus caught him playing a game called "Boo Radley" and told him, "' No...
Jem is just starting to lose his innocence and mature. Boo Radley has been leaving things for the children in a hole in the tree. Jem is so happy because he feels he has a connection with Boo Radley. One day Jem and Scout were gonna put a thank you note in the tree for Boo Radley, but when they went to drop it off they noticed the tree had been filled with cement. Mr. Radley told them they filled it with cement because the tree was dying. Scout just brushed it off, but Jem was very hurt and confused by this. Jem couldn’t understand why someone would do this to Boo. Jem later asked Atticus if the tree was dying and Atticus said No. They went back to the house and noticed something, “ When we went in the house I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him” (84). This proves that Jem is losing his innocence because he was upset that someone would cut off Boo’s only connection to the world. This is showing Jem that the world is not a nice and fair place which helps him to start maturing. Another maturing point for Jem was the day of the trial. Atticus their father was defending an African-American, Tom Robinson, in court and trying to help him. At the time this upset a lot of people and most people would vote against the African-American. Throughout the trial Jem was very sure that that Tom would be proven not guilty because the odds were in his favor and there was no way he could have done it. When the jury had finally reached a verdict they determined Tom was guilty. Scout noticed that Jem was so upset, “ His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. “‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered” (284). This was a huge turning point for Jem. This case made Jem truly see that the world is unfair and things are never gonna go his way. This trial was the reason Jem completely lost his innocence. This trial showed Jem
In addition to Jem’s childish, protective, and playful nature- he is also scheming and possesses a clever mind. He demonstrates this with his knack for avoiding conflict, finding loopholes in regards to the rules Atticus has set for him and Scout, and luring out Boo Radley. This mischievousness sometimes causes Jem to be a troublemaker. Despite his cunning nature- as the novel progresses, Jem changes and develops into a more mature and responsible character as