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Theme Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Courage is not strength or skill, it’s simply standing up for what you believe in and what is right. This is the theme that was enrolled after Jem destroys Mrs.Dubose’s camellias and after she died in chapter 11. This passage also reveals Jem’s coming of age moment. After using conflict, symbolism, and point of view, Harper Lee was able to connect the theme with Jems coming of age moment. The external and internal conflict in this passage is put in picture by Scout and Jem. They portray Mrs.Henry Lafayette Dubose as someone that is hard to please. Scout said “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would raked by her wrathful gaze...we could do nothing to please her.”(page 99). This paragraph set the harsh mood to chapter 11. Obvious tension was built especially between Jem and Mrs.Dubose because Jem would always be infuriated by something that Mrs.Dubose would say to them. “You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you. 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). This is when he went out of control and lost all of the maturity he had. He could no longer take Mrs.Dubose’s insulting comments. This was a terrible decision yet others would have been tempted to do the same thing. As a punishment, Jem is forced to read to
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