Jem's Growth In To Kill A Mockingbird

A child’s growth from childhood to adulthood can be measured in many different ways. One way a kid’s growth could be measured is through their change in emotions. As a kid grows up they may have stronger emotions for different people or things. Another way a child’s growth could be measured is the way they interact with their friends. Along with acting differently towards their friends, a kid may act differently towards their family. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows many ways to measure childhood growth. The novel shows these ways through Jem and Scout. Scout is a young girl who is very much still in her childhood while Jem is a boy who is going into his teen years. One way that Jem’s growth can be measured is his interaction

After the summer ends Scout and Jem go to school, but still spend time with each other going around the block when they can. Scout describes this by saying, “Jem and I were trotting in our orbit one mild October afternoon” (79). Even when the novel is more progressed, Jem is still spending a lot of time with Scout. Also, Scout uses the word “orbit” which implies that they have a route to walk on and that they walk on it often. They both clearly have a lot of free time and like to spend it together even with Jem becoming significantly more mature. Another example of Jem still spending time with Scout is when it snows. After Jem and Scout took the snow from Miss Maudie's yard Miss Maudie asked Jem,” Jem Finch, what are you going to do with my snow? (88). Jem then replied “You’ll see,” (88). A little after this interaction with Miss Maudie Scout then asks Jem, “What are we gonna do, Jem?” (88). and Jem yet again replied “You’ll see” (88). Jem is having a lot of fun with the snow and is doing it all with Scout. Jem is also taking command of the activity, and is letting Scout join. Jem could have excluded her and played with his friends, but instead he played with Scout. Jem’s desire to play with Scout is still very prevalent. Even though Jem is still spending time with Scout he is also starting to become a little

One example of Jem acting as if Scout knows nothing is after Atticus shot the rabid dog. Atticus said that he didn’t want to know that he had a good shot but Scout really wanted to tell all of her friends but Jem said not to. Scout persisted again but Jem then harshly said, “Scout, it’s something you wouldn’t understand” (131). This is one of the first examples of Jem starting to act like he is better than Scout. He also is treating Scout as if she doesn’t understand the world. This is the start of a phase that almost all kids go through. He already was getting grumpy before but now he is actually saying his thoughts to Scout. Another example of Jem acting better then Scout is while he was telling Scout to not bother aunt Alexandra. After Scout makes a remark about the trial and how Atticus is dealing with it Jem then says a remark that shows that he thinks he is better: “ That’s because you can’t hold something in your mind for a little while,'' said Jem. It’s different with grown folk we–” (184). After this Scout and Jem started to fight because these types of remarks happened a lot and Scout had enough. Jem is clearly continually saying things that put him as superior to Scout. He even calls himself a “grown folk” which is implying that Scout is not grown up yet which Scout does not like and Jem knows. Jem is