The short story Lazy Lawrence by Maria Edgeworth, is intended to teach children, and was written with a positive tone. The story teaches its reasons through Jem who lives in the village of Ashton with mother, Preston. Edgeworth challenges children to aim for positive behaviors in Lazy Lawrence. Moreover, the story illustrates the morality of being persistent, caring and hardworking. Jems ability to be persistent is shown throughout Lazy Lawrence. Edgeworth describes Jem as being "a boy not easily discouraged". He was determined to search for a job despite the distance between where he worked and his home. Jem continued to work even when he was tired, and even struggled to get it work daily without being late. For four days, Jem worked “every day all day long”, and each evening the lady came out to compliment his hard work, and his consistency. Jem was working hard to save his hose Lightfoot, from being sold. For Jem to save his earnings took great persistence. To a child, Lightfoot represents a wanted toy, piece of candy, or a bicycle. Jems persistence to save his earnings, influences children to do their chores and to put their earning away to save for the things they want. Jem represents what it means to be caring throughout …show more content…
Jem helped Preston clean up after the livestock, weed the garden, and run errands for her, which was a practice of his hard work. When Preston became ill, she could no longer afford to pay rent and threatened to sell Lightfoot. Jem could not bear to lose his horse, so he went and got a job to help his mother. Jems tendency to work hard and help solve his family issues, teaches children that they are not too young to solve problems. Today, Girl scouts raise money for trips and other events by selling cookies. Girl Scouts are similar to Jem because they work and save. As Jem stated, “I WILL earn something—if it ever be so little, it will be SOMETHING—and I shall do my very
Before, Jem would always be Scout’s playmate but now he tells her to “stop pestering him” and that she should start “bein’ a girl and acting right”. Jem now likes to be kept alone and feels as if Scout is a lot more childish than he had realized.
Jem and Scout grow to understand how to manage their feeling of concern, uncertainty, and anger. Scout is learning that she must learn to calm her responses whereas Jem is learning that he may need to find a way to express his feelings rather than suppressing them. Over time, Jem grows older, which means a big difference comes between him and his sister. Scout understands that Jem now feels superior to her, but she is not fond of the fact that Jem no longer treats her like a playmate. She really wants them to be able to talk and play like they use to. Jem begins attending football practice afterschool since he is now of age which results in Scout walking home alone. Scout was running home one after when she spotted something within a tree at the edge of the Radley lot. “Some tin foil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun” (Lee 44). Scout stuck the gum in her mouth, and continued home. Later, Jem and Scout together find two polished Indian-head pennies in the same knot-hole Scout found the gum. “Well, Indian-heads–well, they come from the Indians. They’re real strong magic, they make you have good luck. Not like fried chicken when you’re not lookin’ for it, but things like long life ‘n’ good health, ‘n’ passin’ six-week tests… these are real valuable to
However, he is still willing to do so out of his love. Moral education wise, Atticus passes on knowledge of many critical and beneficial ideals to Scout. For example, Atticus makes Scout and Jem read to Ms. Dubose as "punishment" for Jem smashing her flowers. During this period, the children learn a lot about Mrs. Dubose's situation, as well as her underlying character/persona; they realize she is a compassionate, brave, and tenacious woman. (In the end she give Jem the single White Camellia as token of her gratitude.) Afterwards, Atticus tells them "I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that it’s a man with a gun in his hand." (Chapter 11, Page 112) Here, and throughout the whole experience he put them through, Atticus is teaching his children about the ideal of courage; it is not simply the use of violence, rather, it is the determination and persistence to succeed even against seemingly insurmountable odds. This is how Atticus shows his love for Scout by educating her in a variety of fields. (And through various methods)
Jem learns from visiting Mrs. Dubose that not everything is how it seems at first glance. He also learns the value of courage and how it will later affect him as he matures into an adult. From what is described, the readers can draw a conclusion that Mrs. Dubose is impolite and bitter towards the children and is not afraid to speak her thoughts about Atticus defending Tom Robinson. As a result, Jem carries out his anger by destroying her flowers. He is later punished by Atticus by having to read to Mrs. Dubose certain days of the week for a period of time and work on her flowers. Through this process Jem is able to control his impulses and show kindness to those around him even if he does necessarily want to. This shows that Jem is becoming more of a young adult rather than a child. He also realizes that Mrs. Dubose is actually a woman of
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
Throughout every life, humans experience a rite of passage where they encounter transformative events that allow them to develop and grow towards adulthood. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street both express this maturation and development from naivety. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem Finch lives in Maycomb, Alabama, a community gripped by racist attitudes during the Great Depression. In several childhood experiences, Jem grows after realizing the true character of his county’s members and gaining a greater sense of compassion towards other people. Esperanza of The House on Mango Street lives in an impoverished community where she is forced to realize the maturation of her sexuality at a hastened pace. Jem and Esperanza begin the journey to come of age through their loss of innocence from their respective encounters of racism and gender roles; however, Jem matures through his disillusionment and gaining of a greater sense sympathy in his experiences with illnesses and racism while Esperanza grows by gaining autonomy and independence because of her encounters with racism and sexual maturity.
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
Throughout Scout and Jem’s childhoods, their father Atticus was always there for them. Atticus always made sure he made time to talk to his children and teach them valuable life skills. Atticus taught both his children to read before they began schooling. Although he was ridiculed for it by Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, who told Scout “Your father does not know how to teach (page 28)”, by teaching Scout to read he gave her
But, specifically for women and girls. They didn’t get many rights and freedom as they do today. Also, it was a big deal for a woman or girl to not match society’s standards because it wasn’t common. That leads into how Scout’s representation of a girl is viewed in various ways by others. Back to the day when Alexandra first comes, she starts hammering on Scout, starting with what she said first: “We decided it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys-” (Lee 170). Scout doesn’t like what she said because she simply isn’t interested in what Alexander says she should be. Again, it seems that Alexandra doesn’t like how Scout isn’t fitting into society’s standard for girls. Scout is also convicted of being different from Jem. Jem’s view on Scout is the complete opposite of Alexandra’s, meaning he isn’t used to or wants Scout acting ‘girly’. Jem started to notice change in her when Scout refuses to sneak into the Radley’s property to see inside of the house. “Jem, please-” Jem replies,"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!" (Lee 69). Scout isn’t intending to act differently than she has used to, but she is saying no because she knows it isn’t a smart decision to begin with. Later on after the trial, Jem is
Atticus’s son, Jem, finds trouble with Mrs. Dubose; this caused a change in her character. Jem becomes angry with Mrs. Dubose because of her comments about Atticus to him and Scout; out of anger Jem “cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves” (103). When Atticus became aware of Jem’s actions he sent him down the street to apologize to Mrs. Dubose for what he had done. As a punishment, Mrs. Dubose asked that Jem to come to her home and read to her every day for a month. As asked Jem did bringing Scout along each day. After a month had went by Jem was asked to continue coming to read to her. Jem was not a fan of the idea but he did not want to disappoint Atticus so he did as he told him. Later, after Mrs. Dubose passes away, Jem is informed of why the reading was important to Mrs. Dubose. She had a morphine addiction and reading to her was helping her to break her habit. 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
Jem is young and carefree in the beginning of the novel. He is just starting to take on the responsibilities of an older brother: “Jem condescended to take me to school the first day, a job usually done by one’s parents, but Atticus said Jem would be delighted to show me where my room was.” (p.20). Atticus is trusting Jem to safely get Scout to school, and help her
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
Responsibility develops in children when their parents do not spend time with them, which causes the children to learn how to take care of themselves early on in their lives, and this is the case of Jem. Jem’s and Scout’s mother died a long time ago, and their father, Atticus, works for the majority of the day, which causes him to not have enough time to discipline his children and take care of them like a father should. Due to these circumstances, the expectation of Jem to act like a parent and the responsible child of the family is extremely high. Taking the following quote into consideration further proves the observation of Jem having to act responsibly. “Jem condescended to take me to school the first day, a job usually done by one’s parents, but Atticus had said Jem would be delighted to show me where my room was” (Lee 15). Instead of Scout’s father, her brother takes her to school on the first day, which is usually an activity done by the children’s parents, but because Atticus does not have the time to take Scout to school, because of his work, Jem had to accept the responsibility of taking care of his sister and taking her to
Since Jem enjoys doing "manly" things, Scout does them as well for she does not know any better and she wants to gain Jem's respect for her. As time goes by, Jem starts to mature himself, from an irresponsible boy to a sensitive, gentlemen, Mister Jem; he is always Scout's adored older brother. As Scout gets older, her Aunt Alexandra decides to try and get Scout to act more like the Jean Louise that she wants her be. The only time that Aunt Alexandra was around for a long period of time was during the trial when she came to live with the Finches when Atticus was the lawyer for Tom. Even though she disagrees with her brother, Atticus, with his way of raising his children, especially Scout, who should be taught to be a lady believes that in time, she will "come around"