Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout change tremendously. They do not change physically, but rather mentally. Their maturation can be seen as the novel progresses and by the end of the story they seem to be two completely different people. As the novel goes on, the reader can see that Jem and Scout mature even when the rest of the town does not. In part one, Jem and Scout are terrified of Boo Radley because of stories they have heard. They have never actually seen or talked to him and yet they are still children and believe most of the things they hear. The stories about Boo eating cats and squirrels are enough to scare them out of their shoes. The children love to play the game they made called “Boo Radley” which always …show more content…
In part one, Jem gets mad at Mrs. Dubose and decides to kill some of her flowers. When Atticus finds out, he makes him read to the sick old woman on a regular basis until she passes on. Atticus tells Jem that she was addicted to morphine and she was very sick. Jem realizes that what he did is wrong. Maturation can even be seen here when he understands the situation Mrs. Dubose was in. Also in part one, Scout gets into several fights at school. Every time someone makes fun of her or someone in her family she beats them up. Atticus tells her it is wrong to solve her problems this way and to stop fighting no matter what someone says. She doesn’t listen until part two when she stops fighting people altogether. This shows tremendous maturation on her part because she has gotten past the childhood habit of fist fighting when she had a problem with someone. Both of these acts show the children’s progressive maturation. One other sign of maturation can be seen in the children’s level of respect for Atticus. In part one, Jem and Scout love Atticus but think he is old and not very exciting. Jem is always upset because Atticus will never play tackle football with him. Scout is always getting into fights and doesn’t listen immediately to Atticus when he tells her to stop. A huge change is seen in part two when the children realize how great of a man and a parent Atticus really is. Jem no longer minds that Atticus
on going to the jail when he senses that his father may be in danger.
Similar to Jem, Scout began to see the world differently as and after the trial took place. The Finch children began to comprehend reality and understand that people can be cruel and deceiving. While Jem began to mature and comprehend this after the trial ended, Scout showed the readers her maturity before the trial even began through her narration. Before the trial begins, the three children witness an argument between Atticus and the jury in front of the jail in chapter 15. At the beginning of chapter 16 on page 208 the text reads, “The full meaning of the night’s events hit me and I began crying.” To elaborate on this sentence that Scout narrates; at this point, after witnessing what she had that day in front of the jail, she realizes the risks that her father is facing for taking the job and ill-treatment that their society would give them for being connected to the black community and treating them equally. Finally, at the end of the book, Scout presents to the readers and viewers that she has found the understanding of ‘to kill a mockingbird’. In both medias of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout tells Atticus, “Yes sir, I understand,....Well it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” This shows that Scout truly understood what her father had taught her, she realized that evil existed in the world, and it showed how she has grown throughout the
For instance, Jem says, “It showed Atticus barefoot in short pants, chained to a desk: he was diligently writing on a slate while frivolous-looking girls yelled, “Yoo-hoo!” at him. That's a compliment, he spends his time doin’ things that wouldn't get done if nobody did ‘em”’ (pg. 116). Jem is supporting Atticus through this unfortunate event. I think Jem is very thoughtful and considerate by making his father feel better about the situation. I thought Jem was more self centered than he actually is. I believe that the reason Jem is maturing is because all of the bad things that have happened to him at only 12 years old. Conflict proves the theme by Jem’s actions towards
Jem and Scout’s relationship together is unbelievably strong. We find that Jem is extremely protective over his little sister and would do anything to stop her from getting hurt. Jem becomes more mature throughout the novel as you can tell when Tom Robinson is in court he cries and also he doesn’t want to play with his little sister but he will still do anything and everything he can for his little sister they have an unbreakable bond. She always wants his to play but he just goes outside and watches her and protects her. They both mature a lot throughout the novel. Scout matures through her experiences throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel she is all innocent and naive. Scout at the end of the novel lost much of her
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
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.”
This idea evolves throughout the book and we see Jem and Scout understand it more as they get older. Atticus’s Children, Scout and Jem have their eyes opened when their father is chosen to defend and African American in a rape trial. The children begin to understand more and more about their little town called Maycomb as they grow up. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, growing up includes more than just going from single to double digits, but understanding life, learning lessons, and change.
Jem and Scout's relationship changes throughout the novel because the both mature and grow. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were closer but as Jem went to puberty you realize that the world is not fair. Jem became more reserved that he started getting annoyed with Scout and started spending less time with her. In the beginning of the novel Scout was more of a tomboy. She would get into fights all the time, but learned from Atticus to walk away.
One example is when the Lynch mob showed up and then the kids ran up to him. That's when Atticus told Jem to leave and to take scout and Dill home with him and that was when Jem shook his head and told him that he ain't leaving. This is apart of coming of age because Jem faces with a internal conflict because he was faced with the decision to listen to his father and leave or to go against what his dad said and stay and not leave Atticus alone with the Lynch mob because if he did then Atticus would have gotten beat up so Jem decided to go against his dad and stay to protect him.
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.
Jeremy “Jem” Finch is a leading protagonist in Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” published in 1960. Jem matured greatly throughout the duration of the book, starting to resemble and idolize his father, achieves the status of a guardian to his sister and introduces a whole new set of ideals in his lifestyle. He embodies the themes of growth. Throughout the novel we see how perceptions of things such as courage, respect, tolerance, and cruelty changes Jem as he matures.
As people get older they go through experiences in their life that can change them in bad ways or most of the time change them in good ways.This good change occurs usually by the experiences teaching them important lessons they should know in life.These changes are very important in ones life because it matures them into an adult. This transformation happens to certain characters in every novel and it is called coming of age. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, both Jem and Scout go through this coming of age and learn what it means to be courageous, the unfairness of the world, and to look at other people's perspective before judging them.
“Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.” is a quote from Samuel Ullman. This describes the struggles that Jem went through by taking part in the community and trial and by also taking the risk of losing some of his friends and family in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through Jem’s interaction with the racism of Maycomb, he became aware of the things around him. We all learn that it takes a strong person to overcome the barriers of society.
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.
Continuing, as Jem is seeing things from others point of views, he grows in his maturity which leads to him to act as adult. An example of this is when Scout and Aunt Alexandra, who is very determine to keep a good reputation to the family name, get into an argument regarding the