Jem Character Development

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“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” said Simone de Beauvoir. I think what she meant by this was that you aren’t born a certain person. Who you are develops throughout your entire life. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how one of the main characters, Jem, is starting to develop who he is as a person. At some point during the novel, Jem is becoming more sympathetic towards creatures. When Jem interrupted Scout from squishing a bug, she said to him,”Reckon you’re at a stage now where you don’t kill flies and mosquitos now, I reckon.” (page 242) Normally, kids love to smash bugs, but when Jem tells Scout that it is bad, you can see how Jem is developing. His maturity is increasing, but Scout is not very happy …show more content…

On page 74 of the book To Kill a Mockingbird, after Scout finds a blanket around herself, Jem shouted out,”...he coulda cut my throat from ear to ear that night but he tried to mend my pants instead...he ain’t ever hurt us, Atticus-” Jem is slowly changing what he thinks about Boo Radley. At first, he thought that Boo was dangerous and murderous. But after learning that it was him leaving the gifts, Jem realized that Boo Radley is just a sweet, big-hearted person. Towards the end of the book, Jem said to Scout “Scout, I think i'm beginning to understand something...why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time...it’s because he wants to stay inside.” (page 231) Jem started to comprehend why Boo did not want to leave his house. Him realizing this changed the way Boo Radley appeared to him. Boo was once a dangerous person to Jem, but now he is a caring individual. To summarize, Jem Finch is slowly learning to not be afraid of Boo Radley, which shows growth and …show more content…

When walking home from the pageant, Mr. Bob Ewell attacked them, and Scout “...felt Jem’s hand left me [Scout], felt him jerk backwards to the ground.” (page 266) Jem could have run away from Mr. Ewell with Scout, but Bob would have caught up to them. Instead, he decides to fight Mr. Ewell to protect Scout. This shows how much Jem treasured him and Scout’s bond together. Also during the Bob Ewell attack, Scout cried out,”Jem, Jem, help me, Jem!” (page 265) Jem ran towards Scout and Bob Ewell to place himself between the two. However, doing this caused him to become

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