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Jem And Scout's Transition In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

843 Words4 Pages

Luke Mathew
Mr. Day
3B
3-28-23

Jem and Scout’s Maturity Transition

At what point in Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, do Jem and Scout Finch really expose their transitions into more mature people? During the early scenes of this story, we often see both of them being portrayed as mischievous and young but, towards the middle to end of the story, they develop into mature young adults. In chapter fifteen of To Kill A Mockingbird, a large mob of men, led by Walter Cunningham, all gather in front of the Maycomb County jail; This mob stands its ground until Jem and Scout arrive. In this passage Lee uses conflict and plot to convey the theme: sometimes the kids know better than their parents.
First, Lee uses conflict in the scene …show more content…

“You got fifteen seconds to get ’em outta here.”(173)
In this passage, as the conflict ensues, Atticus is once again attempting to get his kids out of the violent mob, but Jem and Scout both show their persistence to stay and help dismantle the mob. This event also leads up to Scout making Walter Cunningham shut down. Overall, both of these events expose conflict and the theme that sometimes the kids know better than their parents.
Next, Lee also uses plot events to continue with the recurring theme in this passage that sometimes the kids know better than their parents. Scout has an idea of how she can attempt to break down the mob:
“Hey, Mr. Cunningham.” The man did not hear me, it seemed. “Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment gettin‘ along?” Mr. Walter Cunningham’s legal affairs were well known to me; Atticus had once described them at length. The big man blinked and hooked his thumbs in his overall straps. He seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away. My friendly overture had fell flat. Mr. Cunningham wore no hat, and the top half of his forehead was white in contrast to his sun-scorched face, which led me to believe that he wore one most …show more content…

This event forces Walter to feel a little embarrassed and he realizes his actions are not proper. Moreover, he sends all of the mob homes. Furthermore, Scout breaks down the mob and supports the theme. Sometimes children better understand what to do at the moment. In addition, another event that supports the theme is when Atticus tells the kids to stay home as he goes to jail:“ ‘I’m going out for a while,’ he said. ‘You folks’ll be in bed when I come back, so I’ll say good night now.’ With that, he put his hat on and went out the back door…’I’m goin’ downtown for a while.’[said Jem]’’(169). Because Jem didn’t listen to Atticus, Jem and Scout’s combined efforts stopped the mob. This supports the theme that sometimes, kids’ decisions are better than

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