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Jem Is To Blame In To Kill A Mockingbird

749 Words3 Pages

Who is the one responsible for destroying Mrs. Dubose’s beautiful, magnificent camellia bushes? In this astonishing, breathtaking, jaw-dropping book “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, Atticus figures out who ruined Mrs. Dubose’s aesthetic camellia bushes. It was his son, Jem Finch. Atticus was extremely surprised that it turned out to be Jem, but also extremely disappointed that Jem had done that. Mrs. Dubose requests for Jem to come over to her house every afternoon after school is done and on Saturdays to read to her for exactly two hours for ruining her camellia bushes. Jem states to Atticus “...do I have to?” Atticus then replies “Certainly.” (P.121) In this scene that I chose to write my Essay on, Jem’s coming of age is established …show more content…

Dubose. They would always see her on her front porch when they passes by her house. They haven’t seen her for over a month, they were probably thinking “What happened to her?” or”Where is she?” Their father, Atticus then stated to them “She’s dead… She died a few minutes ago.” (P.127) Atticus then explains to them that Mrs. Dubose was addicted to taking morphine; a narcotic drug taken to relieve pain, and how she took it for years as a pain killer. Atticus also stated that she was sick, ill and she had her fits because of the results of the morphine intake. Atticus then handed Jem a candy box; a gift that Mrs. dubose had left for him. Jem found in the box, a white, waxy, perfect camellia and it was surrounded by wads of damp, wet cotton. His eyes almost popped, he was shocked and somewhat angry, he states “Old hell-devil, old hell-devil!.. Why can’t she leave me alone?” (P.128) His father then explains to him that the most likely reason why she had left him that gift was because it was her way of telling him that everything was alright now. Jem never had thought in a million years that Mrs. dubose would have gave him a gift since she was always so negative towards and mean to Scout and

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“As we drank our cocoa I noticed Atticus looking at me, first with curiosity, then with sternness. ’I thought I told you and Jem to stay put’ he said. ‘Why we did. We stayed-’ He said.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem grows from a little boy to an intelligent young man. Throughout the book, he discerns many things that shape his personality. As Jem grows, he learns how bad society is and that not everyone is perfect. Fortunately for Jem, this ends up helping him and he finds out that Atticus is a hero and that he should look up to Atticus. Through Atticus and the trial, Jem loses his innocence by learning about prejudice, bravery, and that the justice system is crippled.

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After those months are over though, Mrs. Dubose passes away, leaving behind a gift for Jem. A single White Camellia in a box. Scout narrates, “Jem picked up the candy box and threw it in the fire. He picked up the camellia, and when I went off to bed I saw him fingering the wide petals.” (Lee 149).

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It began when as punishment for the deed he had to, “...Come over [to Mrs. Dubose’s house] every afternoon after school and read to her out loud for two hours”(Lee 121). This seemed like torture to Jem, who whined and complained to Atticus, but he eventually submitted. As Jem read, Mrs. Dubose seemed to be trying to teach him new words, according to Scout, who said, “When Jem came to a word he didn’t know, he skipped it, but Mrs. Dubose would catch him and make him spell it out”(Lee 122). Jem seemed to be unaware of this, but he must have learned new words and their meanings from this experience. However, he was mainly focused on how ghastly the old woman appeared.

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As the novel progresses, Jem becomes less defiant and more understanding of adults. Jem witnesses the physical and moral courage of his father before and during the trial of

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Jem starts to mature the most after the case. His [Jem’s] face was streaked with angry tears as we make our way through the cheerful crowd. “It ain't’ right," he muttered all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting… “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem. No son, it’s not right.” We walked home.

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“In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs. Dubose. I wondered if Jems activities had put her there and for a moment I felt sorry for her.” The reason why Jem and Scout were at Mrs. Dubose’s house, was because Jem and Scout were walking by her house when Dubose started yelling at the kids saying that Atticus is not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for.” Jem lost his temper and takes Scouts baton he bought for her and snaps it in half. Jem destroys all of

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Atticus is also very cautious about how he explains certain delicate topics to her, such as when she brings up the issue of rape he says that “Rape was carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent.” (Page 149) explaining it in such a manner that she is still a bit curious as to the nature of rape yet does not inquire further and lets it go. " 'I asked him if I was a problem and he said not much of one, at most one he could always figure out, and not to worry my head a second about botherin ' him.” (Page 249)These lines show how skilled Atticus is not only in comforting his children but also in showing them how much they mean to him. The relationship between Jem and Scout is much like any other sibling relationship, full of love, support and trust.

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The heat was devastating and many people decided to not go outside. Jem and I, however, ignored Atticus ' warnings about the heat, and left to go to see Dill. We passed by the Radley house, no longer afraid of Boo, after all, he had saved our lives. I could still clearly remembering the events of that day, but when I brought up the topic with Jem, he would ignore me, and change the subject. “Jem?”

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“Atticus said that Jem should be delighted to show me where my room was” (Lee 15). The author’s purpose is to show that Jem is a caring young boy and is really helpful to his father. Jem is willing to take his sister Scout to school and show her around. In chapter 2, it states “Don’t worry, Scout, “Jem comforted me” (Lee 18). This example implies that Jem helps and tries to comfort his sister when she is feeling down or mad.

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It’s your job not to let her make you mad. ”(page 100). Jem was far more civilized than Mrs.Dubose. Their relationship was not a good one, especially after Jems anger caused him to “...cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs.Dubose owned. ”(page 103).

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They were subject to prejudice and mockery. After communicating this issue with their father, Atticus’s advice was to stay acting like a gentleman since she was old and sick. One day Jem and Scout had walked past her house and she had commented on Atticus, “Your father is no better than the n—--- and trash he works for” (117). Though Jem was able to contain himself from lashing out at all her other commentary, once she had commented on their father, he had gone mad. Jem ended up grabbing a baton and completely destroying Mrs. Dubose’s

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Whenever they would walk past her house, she would shout hateful and insulting comments at them. Atticus told them to not let her comments affect them. One day, Mrs. Dubose made a comment about Atticus defending Tom Robinson. The comment was hateful and racist toward Atticus and Tom. Jem was angered by her comment and fueled by rage, cut down all of Mrs. Dubose 's camellia bushes.

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So don’t let Mrs. Dubose get you down. She has enough troubles of her own” (pg. 124). Consequently, this short sentiment displays Atticus’ unfailing desire to find everyone agreeable despite the circumstances and does well as an example for his growing children. Furthermore, he presents his unconditional love by following, possibly unconsciously, the commandments of the Bible where it lies said, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Not once in the pages of the To Kill a Mockingbird novel does Atticus result into severe and unfair disciple toward Jem and Scout, rather he determinedly instructs them in the ways of tenderness.

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She thinks that Atticus has stooped to such a low level that even God can’t forgive him. She said that Atticus is: “no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Harper pg. 105) What Mrs. Dubose said made Jem Finch (Atticus’s son) madder than a snake that married a garden hose! He was heated so much that he cut down all of her camellia bushes and made sure that her whole front lawn was trashed.

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