Jem’s Maturity & Morality Morality and maturity can be seen through the protagonist Jem through the events and lessons learned from the injustices of racism and inequality. Jem shows his growth throughout To Kill a Mockingbird with him maturing and realizing his morality. Throughout the book, Jem can be seen maturing through the influence of other characters in the book which help him see and process what is happening in adult scenarios. Atticus plays a major role in Jem’s growth with Jem wanting to be like him and with Atticus’s guidance Jem learns from him. At the beginning of the story, Jem acted naive and rude towards others but as the story progressed we can see that Jem slowly matures into an intelligent and courageous young man through events such as Ms. Dubose death and the day of the trial. With Jem maturing and reflecting on his morality Jem faces the tragedies and injustices of racism and inequality. …show more content…
Scout asks about Dill’s father Jem tells Scout to be quiet because it’s a sensitive personal matter. Jem knew it was a sensitive topic and told Scout to be quiet because of her naive behavior and her young mind which doesn’t understand things. Another thing is he loves his sister and is protective of her but when he started maturing Scout described Jem, “Overnight, it seemed, Jem had acquired an alien set of values and was trying to impose them on me: several times he went so far as to tell me what to do. After one altercation, when Jem hollered, It’s time you started bein' a girl and acting right! I burst into tears and fled to Calpurnia.” This shows that he wants Scout to understand what is happening and wants her to grow up as well as to learn and realize what the real world is and understand what is
This is displayed three different ways, physically, mentally, and and socially. Jem Finch matures in all these ways throughout the book, from a nine year old till a slightly stubborn twelve and a half year old. As Jem grew he became smarter and more aware of what was happening around him. For example, he understood what the mob at the jail would do to Atticus, so Jem refused to leave in order to stall for Atticus. He was also very aware that discrimination was bad; because of this he refused to give in to the peer pressure at school, when they wanted him to discriminate against black people.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, the novel shows a few characters that are coming of age. Scout learns empathy, Jem learns courage, and Dill learns racial prejudice, and Atticus is very proud of them. To Kill A Mockingbird is a bildungsroman story because it shows how Scout, Jem, and Dill are coming of age. The book shows various acts of empathy and maturity from Scout.
Thus creating one of his coming of age moments where he starts to push himself away from his loved ones. Overall, Dill’s conflict with Jem is just Dill learning how actions have consequences, that we do not want to deal
In the text, it states, “This change in Jem had come about in a matter of weeks. – Overnight, it seemed, Jem had acquired an alien set of values and was trying to impose them on me: several times he went so far as to tell me what to do” (Lee 115). As a boy, Jem goes through the changes of growing up differently from Lizabeth. Scout sees Jem maturing as an inconvenience to her childhood fantasy of always having her brother there to play with. In the book, it says, “ “They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep” (Lee 213).
Maturing in a Divided Society Life lessons in coming of age experiences are important as they shape an individual’s beliefs, values, and character, and prepare them for challenges of adulthood. In Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem learn many life lessons as they come of age through their experiences and interactions with people around them. They do so in Macomb County, a small town in Alabama, that is burdened by social and racial prejudices. Scout and Jem are forced to learn the harsh realities of the world and how to address it through various life lessons. Scout and Jem learn the crucial life lessons of empathy and understanding, the reality of injustice and prejudice in society, and the notion that people are not
He was seen as childish but grew into a responsible young man with a sense of maturity. He strongly looks up to his father and plans to follow his career path of law. Jem undergoes a series of conflicts in the book, as he hadn’t been exposed into the real world yet. In chapter 22, “‘It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a
Jem starts to mature the most after the case. His [Jem’s] face was streaked with angry tears as we make 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 waiting… “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem. No son, it’s not right.” We walked home.
When Atticus find out that Jem, Scout, and Dill followed him into town, he demands that they go home, but Jem refuses: “We were accustomed to prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus‘s instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging,” (203). Jem is maturing, and he is starting to understand the situation that Atticus is in because of his defense of Tom Robinson. While he would normally obey Atticus, he realizes that protecting his father against the lynch mob is more important. Jem displays his courage even in his stance, emphasizing that he is doing what he thinks is right in spite of the challenges he faces. As Scout interacts with the mob, Atticus continues to demand that the children go home: “‘Atticus stood trying to make Jem mind him.
This comes into play multiple times in the novel, and it shows what sibling love is all about. Throughout the whole novel, Jem showed empathy for numerous characters. Atticus, his father, teaches the kids to walk in someone else's shoes before you judge them and Jem really takes this to heart. So when Scout is picking on and beating up Walter Cunningham towards the start of the novel, Jem pulls her off of him and tells her to knock it off.
At the beginning of the book, we see Jem as a cute 10-year-old boy playing with his sister in the warm summer months. We watch him grow older and realize more about the world, as well as how he should stand up for what he thinks is right. When Jem sees something he deems immoral or wrong he seeks to end or destroy it. We see this when Jem and Scout are walking past Mrs.Dubose’s house. Mrs.Dubose, a very mean, sick, and racist old woman, yells at the children every chance she gets.
Jem, a young and smart boy develops and matures through many unique situations in the novel. Jem is exposed to the harsh belief, judgement and circumstances of the court at a very young age. Following his father, Jem involves himself in the trial between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell yet takes Tom’s side due to his father's involvement. Jem slowly loses faith in the justice system and is faced with a loss of innocence as explained by Scout“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.
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 waiting" (Lee 284). This quote shows Scout's growing awareness of the unfairness in her
In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem grows from a little boy to an intelligent young man. Throughout the book, he discerns many things that shape his personality. As Jem grows, he learns how bad society is and that not everyone is perfect. Fortunately for Jem, this ends up helping him and he finds out that Atticus is a hero and that he should look up to Atticus. Through Atticus and the trial, Jem loses his innocence by learning about prejudice, bravery, and that the justice system is crippled.
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout 's perception of courage drastically changes their behavior as they mature. They learn a lot about courage throughout the novel from their father Atticus and what they learn from him influences their choices and opinions. Although Jem is older than Scout, they both experience change in their behavior. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is still a young boy. He is defiant towards Atticus, he plays all the usual childhood games with Scout and Dill, and he engages in the younger children’s obsession with Boo Radley.
Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem learns to become mature in terms of behavior and attitude due to the influence of the people around him. “Jem, having survived Boo Radley, a mad dog and other terrors, had concluded that it was cowardly to stop at Miss Rachel’s front steps and wait…” (Lee 100). Jem has gone through lots of dangerous things like trying to get a letter over to Boo Radley, meeting Mrs. Dubose, the trail with Tom Robinson and others.