black man cannot take advantage of a powerful white woman. However, Myella Ewells deceives herself, poured her anger on a hopeless man, she uses her powers to oppress who is weaker than her, she was angry of the society, angry because her father oppresses her. She wants a better life for herself. She has found herself a mother for her siblings, she did not go to school, and when she liked a black man and seduced him, she knew that the society will judge her and condemn her guilt. Tom Robinson is the one that she can control; and everything else she is just powerless. She was devastated when he refused her. Instead of telling the truth, she accused him of raping her, ironically this gives Mayella power. The society will not accept that she seduced a black man, her feeling of guilt …show more content…
Jem’s character develops throughout the novel, the shift that happens is probably because of the experiences he has been through; he was highly affected by the trial of Tom Robinson, he grows from a boy to gentleman who protects his sister and tries to make her understand the implicated events around her. Jem is idealistic – as father as son- he hates the idea of racism, he feels angry when Tom Robinson condemned guilty, He felt angry and asked Scout not to speak about the trial again “I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, you hear me?”(To Kill a MockingBird 131) He taught her not to hurt the powerless and not to use her powers unless for good. Jem’s anger is considered appositive one; it seeks a better change, equal life as God created people. Lee utters his journey from childhood to manhood. From the beginning of the story, Jem is brave, and he learns to be braver from his father and from his small sister
On page 187 it says, “Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. ‘Atticus,’ his voice was distant, ‘can you come here a minute, sir?’” When Jem did this it represented him moving on in a way. As he grows up he starts to take responsibility. Jem starts to recognize the influence he has on Dill and Scout; they don't take this very well. Jem begins to set a positive example on them to help lead them onto a positive path. Jem losing his innocence and becoming more mature causes him to see from a big brother
He constantly makes or doesn’t make certain decisions in the hopes that his connection to others will remain as good as possible. He doesn’t perform a single action without thinking about how it makes others feel or the impression he gives about himself. The best example of this is the relationship he has with his father. Regarding the night that Jem’s curiosity drove him to sneak behind the Radley house, Scout wants to inform their father of the events that occurred. In response, Jem says, “‘I—it’s like this, Scout,’ he muttered. “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way’” (Lee 75). Here, Jem shows his driving ambition to be seen as an admirable son in the eyes of his father. While this choice may also present a sense of dishonesty, it is later shown that Jem regretted disturbing the Radley home in the first place when he says, “‘I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside’” (Lee 304). So, even though he’s concerned with the way that others think of him, the way he accomplishes this is to make changes to himself for the better. This is shown during the trial as well. When Jem supports Tom Robinson, whether it is for the approval of his father, the black community, or even himself, the motive doesn’t necessarily matter, so long as he actually
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.
Jem has seen some of the shapes of adversity, Jem saw that the town will not change even though they know it's the right thing to do. at Tom Robinson trial the people of Maycomb county all gathered to see what the outcome of the effort and hardship that Atticus put into the case. Scout, Dill and Jem are sitting on the balcony trying to figure out what Atticus would say to the jury, And even though he made the case perfectly the jury voted Tom Robinson guilty and Jem finally found out that the county of Maycomb were all trying to protect themselves rather than helping the other people that need help. Jem would be more of an round character because in the novel at the part when Tom Robinson was found guilty Jem thought that the jury and all of Maycomb was wrong and in the process he was crushed to see that an innocent man is being killed because he is not the same skin tone as the other’s.
Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem matures through three important stages of his life. Within these stages Jem’s experiences such as creating plays about Boo Radley, reading to Mrs. Dubose, and processing the Tom Robinson trial all taught him
Jem had changed throughout the story from acting like a child and doing things that children do to becoming more mature and taking part in the
In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem is no longer childlike because he no longer thinks and acts a child and shows compassion for others and the truth. Jem comes of age because he now thinks and acts like an adult and can be considerate of others. The experiences showed him compassion for life the need to do the right thing and the understanding that not everything in life is
Throughout the book Jem almost becomes a whole new person. He matures both mentally and physically, showing everyone that he can be a good brother and son. Though Jem did many bad things, like cutting all of the camellias in Mrs. Dubose’s lawn, he did good things too, like not leaving Scout alone when they were getting attacked by Bob Ewell. Many things can be powerful. Violence is powerful, it brings whole communities together. Death is powerful because it shows everyone that they only have one life and we have to live it. Words are the most powerful though. They can make you happy, sad, angry, confused, or almost any emotion you can think of. Racism consists of violence, death, and words, making it extraordinarily powerful. Jem was affected by those three components of racism in different ways. He saw the violence when Tom Robinson was beaten, he heard of death when Tom Robinson was killed after the trial finished, and Jem witnessed the power of words when Mrs. Dubose yelled at Scout and him. Jem matured physically and mentally throughout the whole book, showing everyone that kids are affected by racism
We can also tell that Jem is changing, growing up when he says “Scout I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in his house all the time… it’s because he wants to stay inside”. Jem is understanding that people have some sort of a choice to do what they want, meaning that if Boo doesn’t want to come out then he doesn’t have to he can do what he pleases. I think that Jem’s maturity mostly advanced after the Tom Robinson trial. Jem was furious after Tom Robinson was accused guilty as he thought there was not enough evidence
As the novel progresses, both Jem and Scout are shown to mature, this is due to "To Kill A Mockingbird" being a bildungsroman novel. Through this coming of age process, we are actually shown Jem’s new found maturity enabling him to find empathy and acceptance regarding the Boo Radley myths, as he finally took his father’s advice to “climb into someone else’s skin and walk around in it” when he was explaining to Scout his epiphany that he “[is] beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut in his house all this time. It’s because he wants to stay inside.”
Jem has developed as a person throughout the novel and an example that shows this the best is how Jem feels about Boo Radley. In the beginning of the story Jem believed that Boo Radley was a myth and many people made up stories and had many negative thoughts about Boo. When they were younger they would play the Radley game witch is to try and get Boo to come outside, but now that Jem has grown and matured he has a different opinion on why Boo Radley won’t come out the house. Jem says,"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.'" (Lee 227).
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows us how Jem changed his perspective and matured throughout the novel in his understanding of other people. Jem is 10 years old who lives with his father, Atticus and his little sister Scout. Although the novel is narrated by Scout the reader can see the perspective of how Jem matures. They are both put in situations that make Jem question his way of thinking. The people around Jem influenced him on how to gain a greater understanding of the world around him. At the beginning of the novel Jem is still trying to figure out his mentality and has a lot of moods because he is growing up.
Jem changes in the course of the novel because while we are reading the book from Scout’s point of view we see that his actions indicate that he is turning into a man. He starts off in the novel as a 10 year old and ages to 13, these few years changes a kid into a teenager, which is a big change. He changes socially, he changes mentally, and his feelings change emotionally as well as physically. Harper Lee has incorporated the theme of Maturity into the novel through the development of Jem. At the start of the book it shows that whatever Atticus would tell him he would do it. But near the end of the book when Tom Robinson is in jail and Atticus is talking to the men about to kill Tom and Scout runs in and Atticus tells them to go home and stays there with his hands on his hips not listening to his father, because he sensed that he wasn’t alright and that it wouldn’t be the right thing to just
Jem took little time to change. He changed in a good way causing a positive influence on Scout and making him a supportive and responsible older brother. He would no longer seem impatient with Scout if not he would ¨Walk around in other people shoes¨ and understand that person. Now instead of insulting her and telling her to go home he now asks her politely if she can go back home. Towards the middle of the book he shows that when he says ¨ Scout, go home.
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