To Kill a Mockingbird is widely considered one of the best novels of all time and is known for many things beyond its great instances of symbolism, representation of what life was like during civil rights movements, and its adventurous and sometimes heart wrenching plot. In the years covered in To Kill a Mockingbird most of the characters seem to have a part of innocence taken from them and replaced with an unwanted truth. Most conspicuously Jem and Scout Finch. In the beginning they are innocent and gullible to the bone which is nothing short of normal for kids their age. But as events transpire in their small Southern town of Maycomb they begin to understand the hardships and complexity of life beyond children’s oblivious nature to that of …show more content…
Jem in the beginning is your average always running into trouble adventurous and stubborn boy. (I know this does not maintain the tone of the essay but I essentially just described myself.) He is very similar to Scout beside the fact he begins to mature before her obviously because he is older than her and sometimes offers advice to her. The most influential example of his growing up story is probably the moment when Jem finds that Dill has run away very far from his house without his mother knowing and he responds with this “Atticus can you come here a minute sir…Dill I had to tell him you cannot run three hundred miles off without you mother knowing.” In this instance Jem shows he would rather betray Dill’s trust and tell Atticus he was there instead of risking the chance of his mother worrying which shows he is maturing that he would break a childish code than have someone worried for their son. Also, another instance is where Jem tells Scout not to mash a bug and Scout asks why and he responds with “because they don’t bother you”. Showing Scout just because you want to does not mean you should end an innocent life no matter how tiny it is shows the maturity of Jem continues to