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Jem changes throughout to kill a mockingbird
How jem matures in to kill a mockingbird
Jem changes throughout to kill a mockingbird
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In the book To Kill a Mockingbird consists of bildungsroman which mainly focuses on Scout growing up but as well, it includes about Jem learning to become a man. Jem advances from a ten year old child to a young gentlemen. This is shown when he is stopping fights, showing a newfound respect for the people around him and becoming trustworthy as some of the ways he shows his maturity in this bildungsroman. By chapter three Jem’s maturity begins to be demonstrated.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird being matured does not mean age, it means sensitivity, manners and how you react. Jem moves into teenage years and seeks to protect Scout. While Jem grows he becomes matured and a mindful boy who adores his father. Jem is a person who can identify right or wrong. For example, when Dill sneaks in the bedroom from escaping his home.
After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.
“Once you start asking questions, innocence is gone,” said Mary Astor, once one begins to wonder about the world around them, they begin to lose innocence. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an example of a coming of age novel. Scout develops socially throughout the novel from naive to a more understanding Scout. In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is naive child in the town of Maycomb.
Jem was mature enough to then start to create his independent values, which were complementary to Atticus’s and Harper Lee’s. During the case of Tom Robinson, Jem said, “Doesn’t make it right... You just can’t convict a man on evidence like that—you can’t” (224). Showing that he views this case based on fact, not opinion. After the verdict turned up guilty, Jem cried on the way home.
As Sheriff Tate is reading the jury’s votes,”Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty…,”(Lee 240) Scout describes Jem gripping the balcony railing so tight his knuckles turn white and wincing at every “guilty” he heard. The ruling ruling is very unfair. On the other hand , for many reasons, it could have been predicted. Then when Jem makes it outside to Atticus, he is saying,”It ain’t right.”(Lee 242) over and over again.
Jem is in disbelief of how they could come to the verdict even after Atticus presented substantial evidence. He is very upset when he asks “How could they do it, how could they?” (Lee, 213) This quote shows that Jem feels sorry for Tom and is critical of the jury's discrimination. Jem exhibiting this behavior shows that he is now becoming aware of issues that someone his age might not think twice
When the guilty verdict was returned, the severe injustice destroyed his childhood naivety. Obviously, the adversity in this scene is the extreme racial prejudice against Tom. Jem’s individual identity is shaped from this whole trial because of the unfairness of the racial prejudice of the jury in court, as it leaves him disillusioned and his childhood innocence lost. His faith in the Alabama justice system is diminished because he realises it’s very flawed. “It was Jem’s turn to cry” (p.284) “It ain’t Atticus.
“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. “It ain't right,” he muttered…” (Lee 242) This shows that Jem is finally of the age where he can make good judgments and even his own decisions.
After hours of waiting, the jury came back in. Scout explains how “A jury never looks at the defendant if it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson… Judge Taylor was polling the jury; ‘ Guilty...Guilty...Guilty’”(211) When Scout and Jem hear the verdict, they are distraught. As they were walking home, “It was Jem’s turn to cry.. ‘It’s not right, Atticus’”(212)
Between the Lines of To kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is an accurate depiction of a coming of age story in many different ways. You can see two of the characters (Scout and Jem) grow up throughout the novel. The setting of the book and the timing is excellent for these young kids to be growing up so innocent and then to see this big change happen in their small closed minded town. The children grow not just in the plain black and white of the paper, but metaphorically. The children grow up in between the lines of the novel.
While Scout is less knowledgeable of the trial, she sees Jem and how “... his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them,”(282). Jem is watching his father go against the beliefs of the majority of Maycomb, while trying to prove an innocent man free of his accused actions. Jem puts himself in Tom’s situation, fully able to comprehend the importance of the case. He takes the pain Tom Robinson must be experiencing into himself, knowing how this verdict is changing someone’s life forever. Jem’s mature knowledge and awareness makes him a compassionate person, which is what Atticus had always aspired for his son to be.
What is coming of age? Coming of age is a process in which an individual goes through a certain event and gains new insights that allow them to mature. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, they are many events where coming of age is revealed in the main characters. The coming of age is revealed through the author’s choice of various literary elements. One place where coming of age is shown is when Atticus tells Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, Aunt Alexandra and Scout that Tom Robinson had died, while Aunt Alexandra was having her missionary society’s meeting.
First they will come for the Confederate flag, then they will come for confederate monuments, then they will come after the Church 's tax exempt status, then they will come for the few Pastors who preach the Gospel. They will charge them with hate crimes if they speak God 's truth. Then they will come for you. Next they will try and ban the old hymn "Amazing Grace.
TKAM wp #1: Jem’s Maturation Throughout the story Jem shows a huge amount of maturation. The book starts when Jem is about ten years of age and still acts like a young boy. He loves to play with his toys, make up games to play with Scout and Dill, go on adventures, and many more.
