In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of coming-of-age and the loss of innocence through the character Jem. Through recurring events, Jem is faced with the realization of society’s injustice, and is left questioning the world he lives in. During a time of rampant racial discrimination and prejudice in the south, Jem transforms from naivety to maturity.
Having grown up in the home of a lawyer, Jem understands the ways of the courtroom and recognizes Atticus’ behavior in court. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for being accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Atticus is appointed his attorney. As questioning continues, Atticus blatantly proves it was impossible for Tom to even commit the crime. Jem says to Reverend Sykes, "...don't fret, we've won it....Don't see how any jury could convict on what we heard" (Lee 279). Jem’s response to Reverend Sykes comment
…show more content…
shows his naive confidence in the world around him. Jem knows that all evidence revealed in the case was only circumstantial, and all pointed toward the guilt of Bob Ewell and the innocence of Tom Robinson. Jem has never been faced with cruelness. As the trial outcome is released, not only is Jem in disbelief but he is forced to realize the brutal ways of the world. As Jem’s innocence fades during the trial of Tom Robinson, he begins to question the character of the people of Maycomb. As he and Scout are talking Jem says, “If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time. It's because he wants to stay inside" (Lee 304). Jem is beginning to understand that people are people; they are not perfect and often do not do what is right. They judge each other, spite each other, and cast prejudice on one another. After witnessing the injustice and hypocrisy of the town Jem considers that Boo Radley stays inside because he sees what actually goes on in the town; the prejudices, the gossip, the judging. Boo Radley chooses to stay inside rather than subject himself to that environment. As the novel progresses, Jem loses more and more of his boyish innocence. The trial hardens him; he becomes withdrawn, losing touch with his playful self. He begins spending more time on his own, almost completely abandoning his childhood games. Following the trial, Scout reflects on a telling moment: “A roly-poly had found his way inside the house; I lay on my stomach, reached down and poked him. Feeling sleepy, I decided to end things.
My hand was going down on him when Jem spoke.”
“Jem was scowling. It was probably a part of the stage he was going through, and I wished he would hurry up and get through it. He was certainly never cruel to animals, but I had never known his charity to embrace the insect world.
"Why couldn't I mash him?" I asked.
"Because they don't bother you," Jem answered in the darkness
(Lee 319-320).
Jem’s compassion towards the roly-poly and his reasoning for disallowing Scout to kill it highlights Jems inner awakening. After witnessing the treatment of Tom Robinson during the trial, how he was persecuted, accused, and attacked for doing no wrong, Jem has clearly grown to reject this brutality, maturing into his new self.
By the end of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem is transformed from a naive, playful child into an aware, mature young adult. The trial changes his worldview; suddenly the people around him are not all righteous and good, and he grows through this. In recurring events, Jem comes of age through social realizations, and emerges into
adulthood.
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.
At the start of Part Two, Jem starts to grow to be a more mature person and develop a want for wisdom and knowledge. “In addition to Jem’s newly developed characteristics, he had acquired a maddening air of wisdom.” (116) In this quote, Calpurnia is speaking to Scout letting her know that the reason for Jem’s sudden changes is that he is growing up and is almost a young man. Jem is beginning to mature mentally. Jem wants to become more ...
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.
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.
To Kill A Mockingbird The Maturing of Jem Finch Society is not as innocent to a child as it may appear to be. In fact, when one really understands the society in which he lives he is no longer a child. This is much the same case as found in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Leigh Harper. Although Jem, being a child at the beginning of the novel, is immature and unaware of the society in which he lives, he matures mentally to the point where he sees the evil in society and gains a knowledge of death. Like most children, at the beginning of To Kill A Mockingbird Jem and Scout are both young, play together, and have childhood monsters or fears like other children.
Lee uses Scout and Jem’s tumultuous childhood experiences to... has had many trials through her life, and on was in fact a trail of Tom Robinson, a black man accused in raping Mayella Ewell, one of the daughters of Bob Ewell, the town’s idler. Atticus, the children’s father, was defending Tom Robinson, and the case seemed to be in favor of him, all the way to the point of Jem stating, “He’s not leaning, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it..Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-”(Lee 176). Jem is very confident in his father’s argument, and believes that the case will lean to Tom,
Jem begins to mature, or understand life more, after Scout, Dill and himself enter the Radley’s yard and attempt to peek through the shutters. He loses his pants and decides to go back for them he justifies doing this by saying, “Atticus ain’t never whipped me since I can remember. I wanna keep it that way.” There is an understanding or maturity in what he says there. Atticus would whip him because of the fact that Jem had been told numerous times to leave the Radleys alone and by confessing to Atticus that he had lost his pants while trying to escape the Radley’s yard, Atticus would find out that Jem had disobeyed him yet again. Jem could not allow something he did to lower the opinion that Atticus had of him. So Jem, with his new understanding, knew he had to get his pants back before Atticus could find out that he lost them, or Atticus would whip him and by doing so express his disappointment in Jem.
Jem displays values like compassion and tolerance by believing that all men are created equal no matter which race, religion, or attitude they have. He shows this when he hears the verdict of Tom Robinson's trial. 'It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus'; (212). This is the first time he realizes that there was injustice in the world. He slowly matures and begins to understand that there are such thing as prejudice and racism.
As children we are oblivious to the influence of those who surround us . We chose to see the greater good in humanity rather than the obvious truth. We are influenced by our environment and choose to abide to the morals presented to us. This applies directly to the novel to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which moves along with the lives of two young children ;Scout and Jem. Along with the obstacles they face and the exposure they have to the ideas of racism, gender roles, and degenerate morals. Throughout the novel it is evident that Scout and Jem go from naïveté to maturity due to their surroundings, influence of family members, and the arising controversy of the Tom Robinson case. They both develop
This passage of the story displays coming of age as an internal force through Jem’s character, conflict, and setting. This event led Jem to see situations in a different perspective. He learns that people might come out as rude. But, as hard as it is he must remain respectful, because he would not know what kind of battles they must be facing. He uses this coming of age experience as a life lesson more throughout the
First, the trial of Tom Robinson is an eye-opening experience for Jem and Scout; there they discover hatred, child abuse, and lying. Seeing pure hate is new and strange for Jem and Scout. They know that prejudice does exist, but listening to and watching Bob Ewell during the trial is astounding to them because Bob Ewell abhors all blacks, especially Tom Robinson. Bob’s daughter, Mayella, makes an advance on Tom, which is absolutely unspeakable and shameful at that time. In addition, Bob Ewell’s hate grows (especially for Atticus) because after the trial his reputation and respect is ruined, even though he does not have a high degree of integrity to begin with. Also, through the
...heme of maturation in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is conveyed through the characters of Scout and Jem, in conjunction with the assistance of their virtuous father Atticus Finch. Early in the novel, Atticus ascertains himself as a major facilitator in the maturation process of Scout and Jem by incessantly providing mature solutions to his children’s predicaments. Moreover, Scout, a major benefactor of the Boo Radley incident and Atticus’ wisdom, has helped her develop into a very tolerant and mature individual. Undeniably, Jem’s remarkable development into a broadminded and compassionate character can be directly attributed to Atticus’ kindness and Jem’s exposure to the Tom Robinson trial. In synopsis, it is evident that the individuals and social circumstances that surround an individual play a major role in defining the type of individual one will become.
Jems naïve views are soon corrupted as he goes through experiences like with Boo Radley, but Jem manages to grow in strength as he sheds his pure qualities and learns to have hope. Jem and Scouts childhood friend Dill represents another killing of a mockingbird, as his innocence is destroyed during his trial experience. Scouts childish views dissipates as she witnesses different events in her life, and she grows in experience and maturity as she encounters racial prejudice, making her learn how to maintain her pure conscience that Atticus has developed without losing hope or becoming cynical. Harper Lee’s novel explores human morality, as she weaves the path from childhood to a more adult perspective, illustrating the evils in a corrupt world how to understand them without losing
Here, Jem is not allowing Scout to hurt something that does not hurt her. He believes that if something makes the world better, then why would you harm it. Again this is portraying his growing emotionally and mentally.