Jeremy Finch (Jem) ages from ten to thirteen in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. This substantial fragment in his life displays the many ways he has changed both mentally and physically. His sister, Jean Louise Finch (Scout) has a distinct way of influencing his growth. Jem starts the novel by disagreeing and starting conflict with Scout, however, we realize that towards the end of the book Jem is more loving and helpful towards his sister. The coming of age shown by Jem is also influenced from the amount of experience he has gained.
“I’ve always been fascinated with the stealing of innocence. It’s the most heinous crime, and certainly a capital crime if there ever was one. ”(Clint Eastwood) In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, this quote reigns true for many reasons. The book starts as a family and friend oriented community, but its true colors show when Atticus Finch takes on a black mans trial.
He knows the rest of the town will disapprove, but he believes in the innocence of this man and does not care of his complexion. In this moment, Scout and Jem only see how everyone will downgrade them and see them differently. Atticus shows, it does not matter what others think, all that matters is that you support what you believe in. This shows how Atticus is a strong character who contributes a lot to the overall lesson
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.
The story, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee has a unique setting of 1933-1935 during the great depression period, in the small county of Maycomb, Alabama. Within the constructs of the story, it follows two characters who consist of Scout and Jem Finch while they live through the great depression and their father Atticus Finch. This story explores the themes of role models, prejudice, Jim Crow law, and morality. The two main characters within the few years that the story takes place experience many changes in their character development and morals by learning many lessons from people around them. However, the person that had the biggest impact on changing Scout and Jem's morals would likely be Atticus Finch, a role model for both of them
After Tom Robinson’s verdict was guilty, Jem started to throw a fit because he knew that everyone knew Tom was innocent but didn’t understand that white men basically always won in court. He realized with his age that everyone says people are equal but that’s false. Through Jem’s life lesson, he loses his innocence by him seeing the world for how it truly is and not a perfect as he thought it was when he was a kid. This loss of innocence shows coming of age as Jem is now aware of the world around.
Jem further understood the true meaning of moral courage when he saw Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a black man. Although Atticus was hugely outnumbered and even cornered by Mr Cunningham and some other people, he did not back down from them. Instead, he seemed even more determined to win the case and prove Tom Robinson 's innocence to all of Maycomb County. Almost everyone in Maycomb County had criticised Atticus and his children for taking up the case of defending Tom Robinson and they were even called "nigger lovers" by many. At first, Jem did not understand why his father chose to defend Tom Robinson when he knew that people would whisper and gossip about it and that the possibility of him winning the case was very low.
This is a major coming-of-age moment for Jem because before he visited the church, he made the assumption that everyone, no matter what race they were, got the same opportunities and privileges that he was given as a white citizen. This scene is a fine portrayal of the theme that
Maturing is something everyone goes through in life whether you go through it early or a little later in life. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a lot about maturing. Growing up in a small town in Maycomb, Alabama where life was a lot more different from today, you mature much different and in different ways. Jem is one person who matures through the whole story and makes realizations about people around him, including his dad, Tom Robinson, and Mrs. Dubose. Jem goes into the story thinking his dad is just some old man but as he gets older, he realizes there is more to his dad.
Everyone Grows Up Sometime: Coming of Age in To Kill a Mockingbird Prior to the spring break of my seventh grade year, I didn’t know how harsh the world could really be. I mean I knew about sickness, violence, death, all that good stuff, but I just sort of blew it off because nothing in my life had happened to where I needed to face those things. When I was 12 during spring break, I was as happy as any child would be on their spring vacation, but one day my parents pulled me and my brother aside and told us some pretty devastating news. They had told us that our grandfather had passed away in a house fire a few days ago.
It is at this moment that Jem and Scout realize that as much as they want the world to be fair, it is never going to be in favor of them. The morals in Maycomb, no matter how unfair and biased they may be, will not change as the racism and prejudice present in the novel have been in Maycomb for as long as the people living there can remember. This incident is another example of a lesson learned for both Jem and Scout as they see that life is not always perfect, but they have to make out of it what they
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee many characters are victims of the harsh conditions of Maycomb County. Often those who are seen to be metaphorical mockingbirds are punished the most. A mockingbird is one who only wants and attempts to do good. Characters such as Boo Radley, Jem Finch and Tom Robinson are exemplars of mockingbirds in Maycomb. In the novel it is explained by Atticus that killing a mockingbird is a sin because they do not do anything to harm to us like nesting in corncribs, or eating up the gardens, they only sing for us.
"Jem, I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. " This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case.
" During the trial, Atticus proved that Tom Robinson was innocent, by questioning both Bob and Mayella Ewell. The biggest issue was that the right side of Mayella's face was bruised as if she was brutally beaten, but Tom Robinson's left arm is crippled, and if he hit her with his right arm, the bruising would be on the left side of her face. Jem gets really emotional after the trial because he knows that Tom was innocent and that he was wrongly
Displaying Jem’s maturity, this statement is also a prime example of how not only adults use reason. Furthermore, Scout learns that others can use logic no matter their age. On the other hand, the jury of the court case applied only their feelings when deciding the final ruling. Later in the discussion Jem and Atticus had, Atticus explains, “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads– they couldn’t be fair if they tried” (251). The men of the jury’s senses of reason had been altered due to their own ignorance of the facts presented in the case and the fact that they do not have enough courage to say that a black man is innocent.
