The Character Development of Jem Finch Throughout The Story ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee
Many of us have read, or at least heard of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. This beautifully woven tale goes over many daunting and controversial topics of the 1960’s, shedding light to the debates of racism and discrimination; yet this story is laced with smaller themes that many of us overlook. One of these themes is growing up and finding your place in the world, which is wonderfully depicted through the character development of Jeremy ‘Jem’ Finch, brother to Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch and son to Atticus Finch. At the start of the book, we see the character of Jem Finch as a reckless, curious young boy who only wants to explore with
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This isn’t the case for Jem. At this part of the story, we begin to see Jem drifting away from his sister and becoming more withdrawn as he begins to grow up and discover who he really is. Relations between him and Scout become more tense as he spends more and more time with Dill, ignoring Scout even more. At this time, we also see Atticus’s son becoming more reckless and impulsive which also brings on a new wave of curiosity which is shown when he decides to gather Scout and Dill to go to the Radley house in the middle of the night to look through the window, resulting in him losing his pants in the fence and warning shots being fired at him by Mr. Radley. As Jem grows up even more and enters this stage of life, we also see him developing a new sense of rebelliousness, “...Jem yelled after Atticus, ‘I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I ain’t so sure now!” (Lee Pg. 50). This quote, spoken by Jem after being tricked by Atticus, shows the newfound anger and defiance that Jem now has that allowed him to yell and display anger to his father, a rare occurrence with him: “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I want to keep it that way.” (Lee Pg. 56). Throughout the first half of the book, Jem is seen as an obedient boy, but as the story continues, we see him gaining …show more content…
During the court case, we see Jem expressing deep feelings and mixed emotions for the case, also verbalizing a strong sense of morals for the jurisdiction of Tom Robinson. By this point, we can see that Jem has grown and matured enough to begin to have a stance on issues and formulate his own personal opinions; a big moment for someone when they finally begin to realize that they are their own person. We also see Jem develop a sense of honor and pride which is shown in multiple instances when Jem tries to stand up for not only his honor, but that of Atticus’s and Scout’s. In this stage of his life, we can also observe Jem striving to be like Atticus as he sees him as a role model. “Atticus is a gentleman. Just like me!” (Lee, Pg. 99). Although Jem believes that he is a gentleman, he can still be immensely stubborn and unwavering. This is shown on multiple occasions where he refuses to leave Atticus’s side, no matter what his father commands him to do. Although Jem does show these traits now, he does show sympathy and emotions; especially during and after the Tom Robinson case when he begins to see that not everybody is perfect and people don’t always get what they deserve. “I 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, Pg. 211). This quote shows that the
...person's word over a black's. Jem knows it's not fair because he knows that Tom didn't do anything and they were being unfair to him because of the color of his skin.
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
One of the ways Jem changes is by becoming more mature.Jem proves that he is maturing when the kids find Dill under Scout's bed and the first thing Jem says is “let your mother know where you are" and tells Atticus that he was there.This shows that Jem is starting to think like an adult and didn't care about breaking “the remaining code of childhood”. Even though it would mean Scout and Dill getting mad at him he still did it because he knew it was the mature thing to do.This shows that Jem cares more about doing the right, mature thing and less about having Scout and Dill mad at him.
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.
This also occurs very early in the novel: "Early one morning as we were beginning our day's play in the back yard, Jem and I heard something next door in Miss Rachel Haverford's collard patch." (11). As the novel progresses, Jem no longer plays with his sister Scout, but he is doing so at this point and he would appear to anyone as one child playing with his sister. Lastly, Jem has childhood fears like most any child does. All children have their fears or monsters.
He also starts to think more about whats right instead of thinking what others will think about his decision. For ex amble when Dill is hiding under Scout‘s bed he calls in Atticus much to his friends dismay. Jem again shows maturity when Scout is beating Walter Cunningham and Jem stops it because he know that the Cunninghams don‘t have money and therefore he cant help it that he doesn‘t have lunchmoney. Jem understands that instead of fighting him they should treat him with respect and he asks Walter to come have lunch at their house.
That does not mean he is only maturing because of his age though. The ways Jem is seen treating Scout as he gets older, is noticeable that he is going through puberty. An example of this type of act from Jem is when he wants to stay in his room and have privacy. Scout thinks, “Jem was twelve. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody. His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him” (Lee 153). This quote explains Jem is growing through puberty and this causes Jem to do more boy like things, like stay in his room and want to play football. Scout also notices that, “His eyebrows were becoming heavier, and I noticed a new slimness about his body. He was growing taller” (Lee 301). After scout sees this, Jem shows Scout his chest hair which is another sign of his physical body growing older. He also is showing Scout his chest hair because he is proud of it and that he is growing older. Because Jem is growing up he thinks differently too, and it changes how he acts. One act of Jem’s is that he defends his father's name. When Mrs. Dubose calls Atticus a n-word lover for defending Tom Robinson, Jem destroys her flowers. Later at the end of the story Jem becomes more brave when Bob Ewell attacked him and Scout. Jem is brave in this situation because when Bob is attacking Scout, Jem protects her and tries to stop Bob from hurting
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.
... he leaves him. Scout points out Mr. Cunningham in the mob and starts talking about his son, Walter. This makes the mob realize what they are doing and humanizes them. The mob disperses and Atticus is thankful for Jem not leaving. This is how Atticus has taught Jem to be independent and realizes that Jem is becoming more mature in his actions.
Jem learns that loyalty matters in relationships and throughout the book he uses that to grow as a person. He realizes he had done friends and family wrong when Scout said, “Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. ‘Atticus’ his voice was distant, ‘can you come here for a minute, sir?’”(118). Jem confessed to Atticus while feeling he did the right
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. & nbsp; The middle section of the book shows many different sides to the relationship between Atticus and Jem. Atticus does not like to tell his children how to behave.
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.
This passage from the book is one of many that represents Jems determined protectiveness. He has a constant guard put over his family, and furiously defends his father and sister. His fierce sense of fairness, probably created by having Atticus as a father, is evident in the book at places like the court case, interacting with Mrs. Alexandra, and going to school. He even is protective of his honor and reputation, as seen when he eventually takes Dill ’s dare, just as he had taken every other dare presented to him.