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Jem and scout character development in mockingbird
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In How To Kill A Mockingbird, written by one of the main characters is a boy named Jem. Jem is Scout’s older brother. He grows up during the story, often depicted as becoming more mature. Jem is depicted as brave, mature, and sometimes angry. I will now be talking about all of these traits. First I will be talking about Jem’s bravery. Jem is known to never back down from a dare. This is shown when he runs and touches the dreaded Radley house. Jem is often brave to impress peers, and to show bravado. This later changes, bringing me to my next point. Jem slowly matures in the story. He becomes accustomed to social classes and gender roles. This is shown when he tells Scout to act more like a lady. Jem shows his maturity when he tells Atticus
The fact that Jem had never declined a dare shows me how strong he is mentally. Even though strength is usually a good thing to have, I can predict that in the future it will end up getting Jem into trouble. I think this because knowing what even in that instance the dare is pretty crazy; I also know that Jem will do it, and that the dares will continue to pile up. Once someone expresses their bravery in what they can do, others usually challenge them to test how great their bravery or strength is; not stopping until the person won’t go any further. I can predict that Jem will continue to accept these dares, and that he won’t stop until he gets in trouble or gets hurt.
“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.
When children grow up, they face difficult problems, and. they learn to cope and take responsibility. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a flashback about two kids that spans over a few years. Jem ages from ten to thirteen over the course of the novel, and undergoes much change, as his sister describes him. Over the years, he is exposed to issues adults face, and eventually shows an understanding of racism and innocence. As Jem grows up, his view on courage also changes. Jem follows his father's footsteps, and gets much of his knowledge from him.
Jem shows that he is growing up in many different ways. For example, he shows this when he goes back to the Radley house to retrieve his pants. “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way.” (Jem 75) The fact that Jem went back to get his pants was a brave decision. This quote shows that he is maturing because he didn’t want Atticus to whip him, but not because he was afraid, because he didn’t want Atticus to go through the pain of having to whip his child. A quote that describes Jem at the moment is "We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice--that is, until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.'"(Sydney J. Harris). In addition to Jem’s developing characteristics, he acquired a load of wisdom. Jem shows a loss of innocence, after his perfect view of the world is shattered right in front of his eyes. For example, “I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, at least that’s what they seemed like.”(Jem 288) This is important because Jem realizes that Maycomb folks aren’t that great. This also shows that he saw the prejudice in the people, and how racist they were to African Americans. As Jem matures and starts developing a new eye for the world, he slowly starts to lose his childhood innocence and is exposed to the wrong doings of the
In the beginning of the story, Jem enjoys the childish games of fantasizing about Boo Radley, taking any dare, and . Scout tells the reader that Jem becomes more and more moody as the story progresses, due to his aging. He thinks more; he shows more compassion; and he is appalled by the unfairness that rears its ugly head in his hometown. While Scout recounts the events of her childhood, the reader fails to notice that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is not a story about the narrator (Scout) maturing, it is actually about Jem maturing, and becoming an adult.
Jem Finch has come a long way since his humble beginnings as a naive ten year old child. He has come to understand the real meaning of courage, gone from playmate to protector for his sister and has grown enough to understand the workings of the real world, and see the negatives and positives of society. His maturity has been quick and the changes great, and over the years he has come to adhere, respect and carry out Atticus`s legacy and use his father`s ideals to shape his lifestyle. Due to the course of events, his adolescent changes and Atticus`s influence, Jem has matured from a reckless child into a young man capable of making his own decisions.
Jem is a complex character who changes a great deal in the novel. He begins the novel as a boy and ends as an adult. People show bravery in many ways, both typical and atypical. Atticus, Boo and Jem all showed important examples of bravery. Atticus models bravery for his children in the determined way he defends Tom Robinson.
In the beginning of the book Jem is ten. He is innocent and is kind of oblivious to what is happening in the town. In the book Jem represents courage and how that courage is represented changes the older he gets. In the beginning Jem‘s courage is shown when is dared to touch the Radley house, he does that because he never backs down from a dare. That is the Jem‘s and the kids idea of courage. As the story continues Jem sees how courage is not the naive idea of touching the Radely house. He sees Atticus shot a mad dog and Mrs. Dubose fight with morphine addiction. Jem is made to read to her and when he asks why Atticus says: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.“
When something serious happens that would normally not happen until adulthood, it forces a child to “grow up” such as going through a loss or another difficult time. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, numerous situations occur which cause Scout and Jem to mature and “come of age”. Throughout the book, Scout and Jem face several complicated situations, for example, there are many cases in which people verbally attack Scout and her family. Scout has to learn to control her anger and to not get in fights with those who provoke her. In the novel, Scout and Jem encounter numerous circumstances which cause them to mature and “grow” such as reading for their neighbor, the trial for which their father is a lawyer, and having to defend
Jem is Scout's brother. He is a little older than Scout. He also becomes familiar with the prejudice of Maycomb County through the story. In addition, he grows up like most teenagers “He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody” “said Scout” (pg. #). That statement is made when Jem starts to grow up. He doesn’t want to play with Scout like a little kid anymore. He wants to be a man.
Jem, a character in the novel whom develops from an unseasoned boy, to a pubescent boy, then to a youthful man, grimaces through a great deal of development within himself. These developments led to distinct changes socially and mentally within Jem. Author Harper Lee used the development of characters as a whole, to
Jem is growing up all the time. This can be seen when he stops Scout
“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”(Cowley). Coming of age and maturing is a long and confusing pathway that we all go through, it is full of stress and discoveries of ourselves. Jeremy Atticus Finch is a young boy going through this process beginning to make decisions in which his growth can be see through his younger sister, Scout's perspective. There are many quotes that give an insight into Jem's character and his personality. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem exhibits the traits of bravery,curiosity, innocence, and protectiveness helping reveal the theme of good and evils coexistence.
Jem Finch's younger self is completely unaware of what the future holds for him. Jem is clueless of which path to take, so he is letting his heart choose. Harper Lee notes, "when a child asks you something , answer him, for goodness sake... Children can spot an evasion quicker than adults"(87). Atticus Finch states a good point in this quote saying that children are not as dumb as adults think they are. This quote also recognizes Atticus's knowledge on the child mind and Jem will now have an idea of to think about others. Undoubtedly Atticus is not the only person realizing that Jem is becoming a man. For instance Harper Lee writes, "she's coming along, though Jem's getting older and she follows his example a good bit now. All she needs is
Another example of Jem’s maturity is exemplified when he is fulfilling his