How important is the Mrs Dubose episode in To Kill A Mockingbird? 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is an important novel as it deals with numerous issues such as; growing up, prejudice, tolerance, understanding of others and courage. This well written story by Harper Lee focuses on a family living in Maycomb County, a microcosm of American Society concerned with only its own problems, in the 1930's. The main plot of this novel concerns a black man being wrongly accused and charged with the rape of a white woman and, due to the racial unfairness that took place at this time, he is convicted. This book is aimed at challenging the racial discrimination that took place at this time in Alabama, South America. Atticus Finch, the father of the Finch family, is the lawyer who defends Tom Robinson, the black man accused of rape. Atticus has one son and one daughter, he is a single parent and is aged fifty at the beginning of the book. Atticus is a man of truth who treats his children with respect. His daughter, Scout, talks about her and her brother's upbringing by stating in the first chapter, "He played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment". This emphasises that although Atticus was a loving father to his children he was also a man of principle and a teacher of life's morals. Atticus is a very important character in the novel as he embodies the themes of justice, tolerance, goodness and courage. His son, Jem, is nearly ten years old at the beginning of the book and progressively matures throughout the novel. He is rational and intelligent and is a constant companion of Scout, but as Jem matures overtime they slowly drift apart. The first chapter of the story shows the coming of Dill. I feel he plays an important role in the childhood of Jem and Scout and as Jem matures he spends more time with Dill rather then Scout. The daughter of Atticus, Jean-Louise Finch, who is also known as Scout, is almost six at the beginning of the story. The whole book is written from the perspective of this young girl and this gives it a very innocent view. As Scout was young at the time the book was written she had a childish view of the world and contained childish fair play. When Scout was at the trial of Tom Robinson she thought that Tom Robinson was being treated unfairly, but she didn't understand it was because he was black. This shows that Scout had innocent ideas of right and wrong, being a child.
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author, wrote about the journey of a little girl, named Scout, as she grows up. Scout’s father Atticus serves as a grand part of her aging because he teaches her many life lessons. The most significant of all the lessons and a pivotal moment in the novel occurs when Atticus tells Scout that “you never really a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them,”, which contributes to one of Scout’s intellectual changes and the theme, understanding requires time (Lee 372).
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 ...
Mrs. Dubose is a bitter, old lady that is extremely rude to Scout and Jem, yelling dirty thing at them everytime they pass by her house. Jem hatred for that woman was so short, that one day he grabbed Scout’s baton and lost his temper, Scout explains that “He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…” (137). As a punishment for his sudden outrage, Mrs. Dubose asks that he read for her everyday and they learn things about her along the way. They described that “...From time to time she would open her mouth wide...cords of saliva would collect at her lips...Her mouth seemed to have private existence of its own” (143). Later on in the chapter, Atticus reveals that she was a morphine addict
The first page of the book mentions Jem right off the bat, making him a main aspect of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The narrator (Scout) states ”When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.” Jem has been brought to the story in the first line of the book.This will eventually come full circle at the end when Jem gets his arm broken again by Bob Ewell. This is a significant showing how he is the main focus of the story.
Jem sacrifices his ending childhood, childlike privileges and a close sibling relationship with his sister, Scout.
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.
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.“
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 is growing up all the time. This can be seen when he stops Scout
In the beginning section of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the relationship of Atticus and Jem is simple. Jem sees Atticus as older and less active then the fathers of his friends at school. For example, Scout states, "Jem was football crazy. Atticus was never too tired to play keep-away, but when Jem wanted to tackle him Atticus would say, `I'm too old for that, son (89).'" As the story line began to progress, Jem started to admire his father. After the episode with the mad dog, Jem had said, " ` `d you see him, Scout? `d you see him just standin' there?...'n' all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an' it looked like that gun was a part of him...an' he did it so quick, like...I hafta aim for ten minutes `fore I can hit somethin'...(97).'" Jem no longer felt that his father was useless.
At the beginning of the book, Jem listens to Maycomb and the rumors about Arthur (Boo) Radley. Until one night, he realizes
Another example of Jem’s maturity is exemplified when he is fulfilling his
Jem intentionally disobeys his father. He understands he is putting himself at risk for his dad and
For this assignment, I decided to do my film review on To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan, R., & Pakula, A. (Directors). (1962). To Kill a Mockingbird[Motion picture on VHS]. United States of America.) I have a personal connection to this film because it is one of my most beloved novels by Harper Lee. I have never watched the film so it was a nice experience to see the characters I have loved for years come to life just before my eyes. The film particularly focuses on a white family living in the South of the United States in the 1930s. The two siblings, Jem and Scout Finch, undergo major changes while experiencing evil and injustice in their small town of Maycomb. Jem and Scout’s father is named Atticus and he is a well-respected man in the town as well as being a lawyer.