Jem Character Development

“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

about that. Scout also commented how,”Jem was the one getting more like a girl everyday.” (page 242) He witnessed Tom Robinson’s family’s reaction to his death, and his trial. When he saw that the roly-poly was about to get killed by his sister, it pained him. That incident reminded him of Tom’s death.
There are also other signs that Jem is maturing. After Miss Caroline “embarrassed” Walter, Jem said to him,”Come have dinner with us, Walter.” (page 23) Jem understood the Cunningham family and their situation. He did not make a big deal out of it like other kids would. When he offered this invitation to Walter, he was acting caring and welcoming. Jem was letting Walter know that he was welcome any time at their house. He also said to him,”Our daddy’s a friend of your daddy’s. Scout here, she’s crazy- she won’t fight you anymore.” (page 23) Jem is acting like his father, Atticus Finch here. Atticus is also nice and polite- Jem picked up being a gentleman from his father. In this case, he is also trying to clean up Scout’s mess and make it up to Walter for almost getting beat up by his sister. In other words, he wanted to make amends with him. Inviting Walter to dinner was his way of doing that. To summarize, Jem is starting to transform into his father.
Boo Radley was what Jem was interested in the most when he was younger.

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

maturity.
Another way Jem shows growth is when he risked his life to protect Scout, his sister.

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

injured.