Each and every person will go through a coming of age experience sometime in their life. Those experiences can come in different forms. But, each coming of age experience ends up shaping us to become a mature adult. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a coming of age story through Scout Finch, an aging girl’s point of view. Her brother, Jem Finch who experiences coming of age before Scout, realizes that being an adult was not what he hoped. Jem recognizes a different perspective of bravery from Mrs.Dubose, a vile, elderly woman’s perspective. In chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements such as character, conflict, and setting to establish Jem’s new outlook on life. The use of Jem’s character later leads him to recognize They saw Mrs.Dubose more as Tom Robinson’s case outbreaks into court. Tom Robinson is the black man Atticus is defending, so every work day Atticus walks past Mrs.Dubose house. Which is “two doors up the street… with steep front steps and a dog trot-hall.” It was not until Jem needed to read to her, when him and Scout got to go inside of her house. “An oppressive odor met us when we crossed the threshold… In the corner of the room was a brass bed and in the brass bed was Mrs.Dubose… There was a marble-topped washstand by her bed.” In her house, Jem begins to leave his safety at home and face society's disapproval, which is symbolically represented as Mrs.Dubose. She represents the racism of the Old South, and Jem had to face his problems as he begins to come of age as a mature man. 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
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 ...
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.
When Atticus discovered what Jem had done, he was furious and punished him by making him go read to Mrs. Dubose everyday. He knew, though, in his heart that she had it coming. Atticus had told Scout that "when summer comes you'll have to keep your head about far worse things it's not fair for you and Jem, but
Jem has become victim of this through Mrs. Dubose, the Finch’s neighbor, through a period of time. After destroying her flowers and her rocking chair from his anger over what she said about his father, Jem is sent to read to her as an apology made by Atticus. While doing this, she passes away, and Jem is confused. He asks why Atticus can still call her a lady, in which Atticus retorts with “...Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her view, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”(Lee 93). What he means is that not everyone is all good or all bad, which Jem had yet to
They begin to understand how judgemental people are and how it affects their views on others. With this information, Scout and Jem learn to decide what they believe according to evidence and facts. For example, while they are watching the case, Jem thinks that Atticus is winning, however from Scout’s point of view it says, “I didn’t think so: Atticus was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr. Ewell could have beaten up Mayella.
This especially comes in to play after Tom Robinson’s trial is over, and he is tried guilty. Jem learns that Tom never had a chance and would have never been tried fairly, just because he was black. As the judge was saying guilty, Scout, “Peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each "guilty" was a separate stab between them” (Lee 282). The quote shows how much he cares that an innocent man is being cheated out of his life. After the trial, Jem became gloomy because he knew in his heart that Tom would have to die because he was unfairly tried. This shows coming of age because Jem never had thoughts about how the black community were poorly treated before. So now he is growing up and thinking for himself, instead of just listening to the racists in Maycomb. Jem later forms his ideas about the Ewell family and how they are trash people from his father when he explains that if a white man cheats a black man, the white man is trash. Jem also has the mindset of an adult when he tells Scout, “It’s time you started bein’ a girl and acting right!” (Lee 153). This quote explains that Jem learns what is expected from them. He thinks like the other adults that want Scout to act more like a girl. All of these examples show Jem has a real coming of age story throughout the
Over all, the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee have grown and matured throughout the whole novel. Boo’s maturity development is shown when he faces his fear of being with the outside world, Aunt Alexandra having some difficulties facing prejudice but, becoming more accepting of others, and Scout developing and learning lessons that she could apply to her everyday life. It shows that no matter whom the person is or what their troubles are, they all grow and mature in their own unique ways.
In conclusion, To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about growing up and taking other people into consideration. Scout Finch is the main example of this. She starts the novel as a naive, ill mannered, tomboy. By the last page, Scout has transformed into an understanding, empathetic, polite, young lady. There is not a specific age where a girl turns into a woman or where a boy turns into a man. Maturity is reached through experiences and how they are handled.
Growing up in Maycomb In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there are three main themes: Growing up in Maycomb, Racism, and Courage. In chapter one through ten, it talks about Jem and Scout spending every summer with Dill, it also talks about how Jem grew closer to Dill and started to leave Scout out of their activities. On page six of the novel , Growing up in Maycomb they believe that there was ”Nothing to fear but fear itself’. Maycomb was a town where you could sit on your porch with peace, and everyday door was open on Sunday Maycomb seemed to be hotter back then, people also moved slower then. Scout and Jem seemed to love growing up in Maycomb ( they had their down times) they seemed to have a decent life especially with a father like Atticus . Atticus was a straight forward man who did everything for his family. Atticus was a lawyer for the town ; for the most part loved him. He believes that everyone deserves and a fair chance , somehow he mad growing up in this small town easy for the kids. Calpurnia, the cook, also made growing up easy for the kids. Cal is a Negro woman that came to the house every day to cook and clean for the family .She plays a mother role in the novel. Jem and Scout’s
...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.
As people start to look into the real truths of life, meaning how everything works, such as responsibilities, taking care of yourself, and lastly one’s interaction between and with people everyday of our lives. One starts to realize that the main thing people do is judge others by their race instead of actually getting to see who that person really is by focusing on the inside appearance with their personality instead of the outside appearance. In this passage of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the literary elements of characterization, setting, and diction develop the theme that coming-of-age involves recognizing the different perspectives that are shown at the end of Atticus’ speech for the Tom Robinson trial.
The theme of coming-of-age is expressed in many platforms in both “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “September” and one of the most prominent ways it does so, is directly through the main characters. Lee’s characters Scout
Mrs. Dubose is overtly racist, representing the ‘bad’ part of the town. In chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose repeatedly insults Jem and Scout because their father, Atticus Finch, is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of rape. The theme is revealed in chapter 11.
Jem Finch demonstrates growing maturity throughout the novel. After Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout reveals Jem’s feelings. “It was Jem’s turn to cry.” Scout uncovers, “His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd,” (TKAM 284). Jem understands the trial is not fair because of race. He is mature enough to realize this while Scout is not. Another example of Jem’s maturity is exemplified when he is fulfilling his obligation to read to Mrs. Dubose. Scout describes, “ ‘So you brought that dirty little sister of yours did you?’ was her greeting… ‘My sister ain’t dirty and I ain’t scared of you’, although I noticed his knees shaking,” (TKAM 141). Rather than Jem replying to Mrs. Dubose with an insult, he dismisses her comment. Furthermore, this showcases his patience and tolerance, which comes with maturity. Finally, Jem validates his maturity when the Finch children find Dill under Scout’s bed. “You oughta let your mother know where you are.” announced Jem, “You oughta let her know you are here…”(TKAM 187). At this point Jem knows the right way to handle this situation is to let an adult know where Dill is. Even though Scout believes she can keep him under her bed forever, Jem recognizes the reality. When Jem’s maturity is put to the test he demonstrates good judgment and decision-making.