Examples Of Integrity In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Jem is a character in Harper Lee's’ novel “To Kill a Mockingbird," Jem who is a twelve year old, he is the son of Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer in Maycomb. Jem begins to show his coming of age when Lee writes “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 115). Lee uses characterization and imagery in this entire scene to prove the theme of integrity. Lee uses characterization in Jem by making Jem appeal to younger audiences by making Jem seem “Difficult to live with, inconsistent, and moody”(Lee 115). This helps Jem also see the truth behind why Boo Radley is always in his house hiding away from everyone in Maycomb. Characterization also helps the theme because without knowing that Jem is moody we wouldn’t know that he is most likely going through puberty which changes every teenagers thoughts on things. Hence why at the end of the book Jem has matured a ton throughout the book. Characterization ties into integrity because towards the end of the book Jem beginnings to have mature thoughts giving Jem the characterization of maturity. …show more content…

Imagery is used when Lee writes “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). This helps prove the theme of integrity because it gives the reader a picture of a twelve year old who is going through puberty and is getting there point of view on certain things. The reader can also picture an older brother telling his or her younger brother/sister what to do. It ties into the theme because the reader can no only read about Jem’s but they can also picture his values on certain things as the book keeps