Bravery In To Kill A Mockingbird

“To kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee is set at a small town named Maycomb in Alabama, in the mid-1930s. The community of Maycomb is of mixed ethnicity and like most places of that time the white people believe they were the dominant race. The book has been written by Harper Lee on July 6th 1960 and the book is seen through the eyes of two children, Jem and Scout who are growing up at the time of the great depression and live in this society. As Jem gets older he becomes conscious of the fact that this community, where he lives in and the adults who are surrounded by him are not always correct and this makes him feel lost as he grows up and matures throughout the course of this beautiful book written by Harper Lee. In the novel several

As the novel begins, Jem 's idea of bravery is simply touching the side of the Radley house, a dare given by Dill to Jem to prove whether Jem was capable of finishing or even attempting to do a dare. “In all his life, Jem had never declined a dare” (Lee, p.14). This tells us that Jem had a personality of bravery as he had never declined a dare also he stood up to those who would hurt his family and friends and as the story progresses in chapter 15, Atticus goes to guard the Maycomb jail where Tom was being held captive. A vexed mob came to the jail seeking to harm Tom. When the mob approached, the children, who had been watching, came to Atticus 's aid. Scout was actually the one who initiated the charge, but Jem shows his bravery as well when he refuses to leave. Scout manages to stay back since Jem stayed. If Jem had left, she and Dill would have followed. The presence of the children scatter the intense situation and the mob was called off, Atticus realized that it was Jem 's bravery that changed

Throughout the course of the book Jem has had a curious attitude towards the objects and people he has come across. We can see this best at chapter 6, on Dill 's last night in Maycomb, Jem and Dill decide to "simply peep in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could get a look at Boo Radley"(Lee pg 57). This tells us that Jem is extremely curious about the fact that who Boo Radley is and since Jem has company for his curiosity, Jem and Dill decide to go to the Radley’s place and investigate. Not only at this time have we seen Jem’s curiosity but also in chapter 15 when Atticus leaves his house, Jem was curious to know where his father was going and he says “He’s takin the car” (Lee pg 163). By this quote we understand that Jem is curious to know why his father was taking the car as Atticus always walked where ever he went and hence going out with the car at the middle of the night did not make sense to Jem. Following his curiosity Jem bolted up and had gotten himself changed, ready to follow Atticus. “I am going downstairs for a while; He was changing into his pants. It is ten o’ clock said Scout, He knew it, but he was going anyways” (Lee pg 164). This obviously tells us that despite it being very late and past Jem’s bedtime, Jem insisted on travelling all the way where Atticus was going so that his curiosities could be