ipl-logo

Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

506 Words3 Pages

Alvina Dennis, Boles
Childlike Innocence
Reading a novel that shows the true essence of an innocent child's perspective leaves the audience to decipher its true meaning when the innocence fades away. If we view our society in an innocent manner it shields us from the dangers of racism, prejudice, and hypocrisy, unforgettably popular topics in the early 1930s. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a MockingBird, the audience perceives a childlike innocence portrayed by Jem, but later that innocence is “killed”, after a falsified sexual assault case that left an innocent man to his death. Jem is growing up in the town of Maycomb with his younger sister Scout and his father Atticus. Jem is shown to be naive, adventurous, and courageous- all childlike …show more content…

The reader can see just how immature Jem is when he says turtles can’t feel anything, losing his pants in the Radley yard, and cutting the tops of Mrs. Dubose's camellias. After talking with Dill, “‘How do you know a match [won’t] hurt him?’" asks Dill. "Turtles can't feel, stupid," replies Jem.”(Lee 15). Further in the novel Jem tells Scout not to crush a bug because it didn’t do anything to harm her, proving he was acting immature. But that's not the only thing that proves this. Since Jem grew up in Maycomb, he’s no stranger to the Boo Radley house, consequently Jem repeatedly doesn’t listen to Atticus when he is told to stay away from the Arther Radley house, “... when we sensed that Jem was not with us. We ran back and found him struggling in the fence, kicking his pants off to get loose. He ran back to the oak tree in his shorts”. (Lee 60). This isn’t the only instance Jem has been impetuous. After being provoked by Mrs. Dubose's menacing comments, “ We had just come up to her gate when Jem snatched my baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose's front yard, forgetting everything that atticus had said,…He did not to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…”(Lee 118). This shows Jem acting impulsively because he doesn't stop to

Show More
Related

Examples Of How Jem Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

827 Words | 4 Pages

Jem shows immaturity in the beginning of the book in many ways. In the first paragraph it talked about him worrying about never being to play football ever again because off his broken arm which even if he couldn’t play football ever again it wouldn’t kill him. One time he showed immaturity was when they first met Dill and Jem told him about Boo Radley being six foot five and eats squirrels and cats if he can catch them which was obviously not true. Another time Jem showed immaturity was when they all snuck up to the Radley house,

Read More

How Does Jem Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

568 Words | 3 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem, or Jeremy Atticus Finch, is Scout's brother, and throughout the story he changes and matures a lot through a series of stages. First, you have the event that caused this, the trial, then you have the influence that it put upon Jem ,and lastly, how he had overall changed from the experience. After Tom's Trial, when Tom is deemed guilty and goes to jail, Jem is mad because he feels it's unfair. Jem realizes that his outlook on law was rather naive and that there's much more to it, and that his ways of thinking were childish as shown when he is speaking to Atticus, “How could they do it, how could they?’’

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Dialectical Journal

1362 Words | 6 Pages

My other question in this journal is why did Jem stand up to Atticus. I think that one reason Jem stood up to Atticus is that he is growing up. Now that Jem is older, he isn’t listening to everything that Atticus is always telling him. He is making decisions on his own. Jem is a teenager now and is deciding that he gets to be more independent.

Read More

How Is Jem Broken Down In To Kill A Mockingbird

464 Words | 2 Pages

At this moment Jem realized not all things worked out perfectly and that there was so much bad in the world to ruin the lives of others. Another example of Jem’s innocence being broken down is when Nathan Radley closed up the hole in the tree. When Jem and Scout had discovered that Nathan Radley was closing the hole in the tree because “it was sick” they were conflicted on whether he had told the truth. When Jem had asked Atticus if you close the hole on a tree when it’s sick and he replied with a no, Jem was struck with the realization that Nathan Radley had lied to them so they wouldn’t receive any “gifts” from the tree. It even states in chapter 7 how Jem reacted, “He stood there until nightfall, and I waited for him.

Read More

Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

772 Words | 4 Pages

A Loss of Innocence And A Gain of Maturity Have you ever experienced something that you still think about today? Or have you experienced something that you wish never would have happened? Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird Scout and Jem face many of these things, and at a young age too. During the story and the situations they find themselves in, a loss of innocence is evident.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird How Has Jem Changed

844 Words | 4 Pages

There were many personally impactful events happening in the town, like the rape trial, a neighbor’s house burning down, and new opinions coming to light. Jem could have learned a great deal from this because he was such a big part of society considering his dad was the lawyer for a black man, and he also could have been accused for killing Bob Ewell. As Atticus says in the novel, “‘Heck, ...‘If this things hushed up it’ll be a simple denial to Jem of the way I’ve tried to raise him” (Lee 314). Atticus was watching out for Jem because he didn 't want for him to be treated differently, he knew he was changing and was starting to understand what happened to Boo Radley. Boo was seen as a reckless child, so that 's how he got his reputation, and Atticus doesn’t want them to be seen in a bad way.

Read More

Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

616 Words | 3 Pages

The loss of innocence is a difficult experience for many, but it is a challenge we all go through. Jem, Tom, and Boo all relate to the loss of innocence. Boo was labeled as an evil person, Tom was judged by the color of his skin, and Jem was exposed to the adult world. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses a mockingbird to represent innocence in an attempt to portray the cruelty in the world.

Read More

Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1232 Words | 5 Pages

Alissa Grisler 6/4/14 English Period 6 Mr. Mahan Loss of Innocence in To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, provides a coming-of-age story in which Scout and Jem Finch experience a loss of innocence as they grow up in the deeply prejudiced Southern Alabama. This loss of innocence stems from their exposure to discrimination, their increasing knowledge of justice versus corruption, and their awareness of social stratification. Throughout the story, their father, Atticus, serves as their guide and rigid advocate for morality. Harper Lee shows racism in Maycomb through dialogue and character’s actions. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem are robbed of their childlike innocence during the trial of Tom Robinson, a black

Read More

Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

904 Words | 4 Pages

An innocent perspective of a child has the potential to alter society's beliefs. The unique voice of a child has the ability to change humanity's preconceived ideas as they have not been corrupted by society's prejudice. Harper lee explores this notion within her novel "To Kill A Mocking Bird" through the protagonist Scout, who is a child growing up in the southern states of the U.S.A. During the novel Scout is oblivious to the prejudice that is present in the community around her. Scout is symbolic of the innocence of children and their ability to guide the way to a less discriminatory society. Colloquial language when Scouts teenage cousin said "it aint your fault Atticus is a nigger lover".

Read More

Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1045 Words | 5 Pages

When one grows up, it is inevitable they will lose their innocence. Seeing the world through rose colored glasses can only take one so far, and eventually they will have to open their eyes to real issues in their lives. While this happens at different ages for everyone, Atticus in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee believes that his kids should not be sheltered from the real world. As Scout and Jem, Atticus’ children, grow up, especially in a time where Maycomb is so segregated, Atticus teaches his kids real life lessons and to not become like the rest of their town; racist and judgemental. This comes with a cost, however, as the kids “grow up” at an expedited rate.

Read More

Jem Bravery In To Kill A Mockingbird

592 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Theme Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

1138 Words | 5 Pages

This is when he went out of control and lost all of the maturity he had. He could no longer take Mrs.Dubose’s insulting comments. This was a terrible decision yet others would have been tempted to do the same thing. As a punishment, Jem is forced to read to

Read More

Dramatic Shift In To Kill A Mockingbird

281 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the story, we see dramatic shift in Jem's attributes. In the beginning, Jem is overbearingly bossy and doesn't want anyone to see him with his sister. An example on page 46 shows this. Scout has a piece of gum Another example is when Jem tries to show off to Dill that he's not scared.

Read More

Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1376 Words | 6 Pages

Allison Dossman Honors English I 3rd Mrs. Ward 10 April 2023 To Kill a Mockingbird: Loss of Innocence Childhood is meant to be like a warm and safe bubble meant to protect oblivious children from the difficulties of reality. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a classic novel that shows the life of Scout Finch, Jem, her brother, and Dill, a friend, through a portion of their childhood. The portrayal of three children’s lives reveals how the loss of innocence in their childhood was inevitable as it began fading away in the beginning of their childhood and was completely diminished within a few years. Early on, Scout, Jem, and Dill were investigating an old story about a man named Boo, also known as Arthur Radley, and snuck up

Read More

Theme Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

747 Words | 3 Pages

As Jem starts to mature, his body language and use of words also start to show his overall maturity and his loss of innocence. Specifically, he acts exactly like his father,

Read More

More about Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document