Examples Of Bildungsroman In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Bildungsroman to tell a story of how Scout interprets certain events that come her way. Although the tale is told through the eyes of Scout, the reader also sees the growth that Jem has both physically and mentally. Dealing with the trial, puberty, and people he encounters, Jem matures into a young adult throughout the course of the novel. The trial of Tom Robinson heavily impacts the view that Jem has on the world. Jem’s old enough to understand how a court case should work, and he’s learned enough from Atticus to see that it should be a clear-cut case. He truly believes that Atticus has won the case and says, ”we’re gonna win, Scout. I don’t see how we can’t” (Lee 270). This is where Jem can be pictured as bright eyed and excited

In the beginning of the book, Jem spends his time with Scout and Dill upgrading their treehouse, and running through plays (Lee 9). He was a child then, and he spent his time playing. Even though Jem was older than scout by about 4 years, maturity wise, the gap wasn’t as wide. As the story progresses though, Jem spends less and less time around Scout and becomes moody (lee 153). He’s grown out of the games he used to make up with Scout, and instead has a new obsession with football. He’s also going through the mood changes that come with puberty making Scout’s presence intolerable for him because he thinks himself superior in this period of time. In addition to his emotional state, he also gets taller, thinner, and proudly shows Scout his little to no chest hair (Lee 301). Having chest hair or facial hair is often viewed as a progression into manhood. Jem shows it to Scout in an effort to make her feel better by distracting her, and to show off. The fact that he does this to try and cheer Scout up is a sign of Jem’s maturity. This is a prime example of Bildungsroman as Jem is literally