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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem transitions from a self-conscious; fearful boy into a brave, fearless, sacrificial, and mature teenager. (Throughout the story, Jem’s age ranges from ten to thirteen). In the beginning of the story, it is revealed the Jem badly injured his elbow whilst playing football. After this injury started to heal, he was not only scared that he’d never be able to play football again, but he was also self-conscious about his elbow. Additionally, he was scared of Boo, a quiet and reclusive character in the story, and would be uncomfortable walking by The Radley Place. In addition to being scared to walk by The Radley Place, he’d also be scared to walk past Mrs. Dubose’s house, as she has been known to …show more content…
repeatedly correct them for the way they act, dress, and talk. One day, Scout and Dill dared Jem to touch Boo’s house. Even though Jem was scared to walk past The Radley Place, he had told Scout and Dill that he never backs down from a dare, and willingly touched the house.
This was the start of Jem starting to become fearless. Moreover, Jem find a way to deal with Atticus facing a mad dog, Mrs. Dubose fighting addiction, and Scout’s confrontation with the mob at the jail, all at the same time! Instead of backing down, he accepted this, and moved on. In addition to this, Jem must devote some of his time and efforts to being Scout’s counselor. At the beginning of the story, Jem didn’t want to have anything to do with Scout; often ignoring her at school, and telling her to stay away from him. But later on in the story, he changed. Whenever Scout was feeling depressed, or in trouble, Jem would be there to suppress the situation, and make it better. He would occasionally offer Scout emotional guidance, telling her to do things such as be less defiant and follow orders, or to relax and listen. Also, being that he is her older brother, he must set the model that she must follow. Besides sacrificing his time and efforts to Scout, he also sacrifices himself to Atticus, as he’d rather be personally injured, than to disappoint him and/or see him get
hurt. An example of this was when Jem was attacked by a stranger on his way home. Defenseless, he must succumb to a broken shoulder, a concussion, and other minor injuries. When he wakes up near the end of the story, he isn’t scared or frightened anymore. In a way, the whole story goes full circle, as he must succumb to broken bones, and either choose to be self-conscious, or brave. Overall, Jem has matured over the course of the text. He went from being a scared, frightened, and naive boy, into a brave, fearless, sacrificial, and mature teenager.
Jem had changed throughout the story from acting like a child and doing things that children do to becoming more mature and taking part in the community. When Dill had ran away from his mom and stepdad during the summer Jem and Scout had found him under the bed in Scout’s room. Scout was planning to hide him in her room: however, Jem had other plans. “Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. “Atticus, can you come here a minute, sir?” (pg. 74) For years, Jem and Dill had been the best of friends. Dill had found Jem trustworthy, however, Jem was willing to do what was right even if it means losing a friends trust. Towards the end of the summer, when Dill was getting ready to leave Jem felt that it was necessary that Dill should learn to swim. He has spent the next week going to the creek to teach him. "Jem had discovered with angry amazement that nobody had ever bothered to teach Dill how to swim, a skill Jem considered necessary as walking. They had spent two afternoons at the creek, they said they were going in ...
Jem's definition of bravery changes as he grows up; he gains insight and experience of the world around him. At the beginning of the story, Jem only thought of bravery as touching the side of the Radley house, only because "in all his life, [he] had never declined a dare. (pg 13)" However, as the story continues, Jem learns about courage from several events. Upon hearing about a trial where a black person's been prosecuted, Atticus decides, as a lawyer, to defend that person. Atticus chose to defend Tom Robinson, an African American, because it's the right thing to do, and no one else wanted to ,or had the bravery to. "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win, (pg 76)" he said to Scout and Jem when Scout asked. Atticus was courageous for doing something just, even though it's not encouraged. Jem also learns a different kind of courage after learning about Mrs. Dubose's fight with a morphine addiction. Jem and Scout disliked Mrs. Dubose because she was quite a mean person. Later, they were glad they didn't have to read to her anymore. Atticus told Jem that Mrs. Dubose simply had her own views on things, and that her fits were from her addiction. Atticus made Jem read to her and explained, "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 It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway According to [Mrs. Dubose's] views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew. (pg 112)" This is similar to Atticus's choice to defend Tom.
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.
Jem’s perception of bravery has changed throughout the course of the book. His maturity is a result of Atticus’s actions around him. At the beginning of the book, Jem is dared by his neighbour Dill to touch the door of the Radley’s; the Radley house symbolizes fear in the minds of the children. Jem does so thinking the act is courageous while Scout remarks, “In all his life, Jem had never declined a dare.” This shows that like most children, Jem is often more idealistic than realistic. His reactions are instinctive and often unplanned and reckless.
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.
Harper Lee uses Scout’s young minded perspective and willingness or lack of to learn and observe people's lives. Scout first learns from Atticus that she needs to walk in other people's shoes to understand their decisions and attitudes. “Jem stayed moody and silent for a week. As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem's skin and walk around.”(Lee, 77). In this passage Scout tries to use the advice Atticus has given her. She ends up not bothering Jem, which in turn strengthens her trust in her father's advice.
He shows this quality largely through the treatment of his sister Scout. Although they get into the occasional quarrels and scuffle, Jem cares greatly for her. He often encourages her in her moments of sadness and even defends her from tormentors such as Mrs. Dubose. Jem's attitude of caring and sympathy also reached out beyond his sister and to others. Jem clearly demonstrates this in his treatment towards Walter Cunningham, "Jem suddenly grinned at him. 'Come on home to dinner with us, Walter,' he said. 'We'd be glad to have you'' This displays great concern and caring on Jem's end towards Walter as he understood Walter did not have anything to
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 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.
Imagine just two young kids maturing within a matter of years. Imagine that same two kids, experiencing or understanding things that they aren’t meant to at a young age. Jem and Scout were just like that. They have experienced many things that they shouldn’t have at their age. Scout on the other hand, seems to be the one maturing the most. Throughout this whole essay, you will learn about Jem and Scout’s attributes, personality, and how alike or different they are from each other.
Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem has been maturing in many ways. Towards the beginning of the book he was much less caring about the things that went on in the adult world. But after his father does something he doesn’t seem to be proud of, instead of pushing, “Jem said ’I reckon if he’d wanted us to know it, he’da told us. If he was proud of it, he’da told us.’” (To Kill A Mockingbird page 130). Rather than rebelling against his father, even if he wanted to know the truth, Jem protects himself by letting an unnecessary matter drop out of relevancy. The trait he displayed here is one that his
In the story, he shows many acts of him being responsible For example: when Scout was beating up Walter, Jem came to stop Scout and explained to her that Walter didn’t have any food and after looking at his condition and his clothes Jem said “Come on home to dinner with us Walter. We’d be glad to have you”(Lee,30). This relates to him being responsible and mature because he stopped Scout from hurting Walter more than she already did and because he knew that Walter didn’t have lunch and Walter was dirty so he invited Walter over for dinner. Another reason Jem is responsible is because he cares about his father's opinion of him and would rather do something dangerous than have his father be disappointed in him. For instance: When Jem lost his pants he didn’t tell Atticus that he lost it over at the Radley house instead he decides to sneak out at night to get them but before he goes Scout tries to convince Jem that if he goes he’ll get shot by Mr.Radley then Jem replies “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanna keep it that way”(Lee,75). This shows how much he cares about his father's opinion of him not because he would get whipped but that Atticus would be disappointed in him. Though him caring about his father’s opinion makes him responsible but also shows how immature, crazy, and mindless he is for going to the Radley house to get his pants even though he knew that if he were to get caught by Mr.Radley he would’ve been
In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird, the character of Jem goes through an interesting transition throughout the narrative.To Kill a Mocking Bird is all about growing up and how children change and mature. Albert Schweitzer once said, "Example is not the main thing influencing others. It's the only thing". Jem desperately wants to emulate his father, Atticus, especially his father's braveness. Jem grows up through how he views bravery. Scout says about Jem that, "Jem was born a hero" ( 21). When readers first meet Jem, he thinks being a "daredevil" is bravery. However, by the end of the novel, it is clear that Jem's view of bravery has developed for the better. Jem's opinions and acts of bravery throughout the novel change and grow as the