Moral Growth In To Kill A Mockingbird

Moral Growth of Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird

The book To Kill a Mockingbird is an award-winning coming of age novel which focuses on Southern life during the Great Depression. It begins with two kids curious about a man named Boo Radley progressing towards a trial which saw Atticus defending a black man. It is a great example of moral growth especially for Jem Finch (Jeremy Atticus Finch). From a ten-year-old to a 13-year-old, Jem goes through one of his most important transitions in life from a child to a teenager. During this process, his morals drastically change more than any other character in the novel. A + B + C, D + E

A defending atticus and denying orders, regret messing with boo radley chap 7 beg maybe, losing tom robinson case maybe, when boo radley gave blanket,

From level ---- to

level two stage 4 (since he still believd it was wrong that the society did not liketom robinson over law)
In the beginning of the novel when Jem was ten, he had a basic understanding of right and wrong.

He only knew of one interpretation of right and wrong which was Atticus’. He learns society has a different interpretation of right and wrong with their “unwritten rules”. As he grows older, he understands that when other children in his society grow up, they become accustomed to these rules to the point where they do not question its justice. For example, on page 269, Reverend Sykes says, “Things haven’t caught up with that one’s instinct yet. Let him get a little older and he won’t get sick and cry. Maybe things’ll strike him as being — not quite right, say, but he won’t cry, not when he gets a few years on him.” In other words, any unfair society views of others becomes normal once exposed to it long enough. After Tom Robinson lost in court, Jem cried because he still strongly disagreed with these societal rules that made blacks weaker. On page 284, Scout says, “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, Atticus,’ said Jem. ‘No son, it’s not right.’” From this quote, we know Atticus has helped Jem

understand how other people view right and wrong. We see Jem’s morals change over the course of this novel. Three experiences from my memory map in the novel where we see Jem’s morals change are when he begins acting like a teenager, reads to Mrs. Dubose, and finds out Tom Robinson lost in court. On page 153, Scout says, “Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody… Overnight, it seemed , Jem had acquired an alien set of values.” This “alien set of values” displays how Jem’s morals are beginning to grow up since Scout, being a child, does not understand his new morals. On page 147 and 148, Atticus says, “Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict… She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody… she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did… If you hadn’t fallen into her hands, I’d have made you go read to her anyway.” Atticus was teaching Jem a lesson

Lastly, on page 279, it says, “Jem smiled… we’ve won it,’ he said wisely. ‘Now don’t you be so confident Mr, Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man.” Also, on page 294, Atticus says, “Tom Robinson’s a colored man, Jem. No jury in this part of the world’s going to say, ‘We think you’re guilty, but not very,’ on a charge like that. It was either a straight acquittal or nothing.” From these two quotes, we know Jem finds out society is unjust and unfair. Although there was enough evidence to prove Tom Robinson was innocent, his color led him to be accused guilty.