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To Kill A Mockingbird How Has Jem Changed

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The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about two kids, Jem and Scout, and their childhood in their small town Maycomb, Alabama. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were two innocent kids playing in the summer sun, until school came along. Jem was about twelve throughout the novel and Scout was eight, and considering that Jem was twelve in the novel, he was changing. During the middle of the novel a rape trial occurred, which included a black man being accused by a white woman of first-degree rape. Atticus, the kid’s father was defending the african american man; Tom Robinson. Jem was lost in society throughout this part of the novel, yet towards the end of the novel he had learned more to understand his community. At the …show more content…

There were many personally impactful events happening in the town, like the rape trial, a neighbor’s house burning down, and new opinions coming to light. Jem could have learned a great deal from this because he was such a big part of society considering his dad was the lawyer for a black man, and he also could have been accused for killing Bob Ewell. As Atticus says in the novel, “‘Heck, ...‘If this things hushed up it’ll be a simple denial to Jem of the way I’ve tried to raise him” (Lee 314). Atticus was watching out for Jem because he didn 't want for him to be treated differently, he knew he was changing and was starting to understand what happened to Boo Radley. Boo was seen as a reckless child, so that 's how he got his reputation, and Atticus doesn’t want them to be seen in a bad way. The town already sees the Finch’s as a odd family because Atticus defends African Americans, so he didn 't want that to happen to Jem. A result of these events Jem developed to become more …show more content…

In the beginning of the novel, he was becoming reckless, and towards the middle and end of the novel, he was more mature. As Jem saw what it was like to be a gentleman from his father, he developed and was teaching Scout about these findings. In the novel it says, “Naw, Scout, it’s something you wouldnt understand. Atticus is real old, but I wouldn 't care if he couldn 't do anything- I wouldn 't care if he couldn 't do a blessed thing” (Lee 107). This quote reflects Jem maturing because he was teaching Scout about what growing up was really like to grow up. As Jem was learning he also felt he had the responsibility to take care of Scout as their dad is worried about the trial. For these reasons Jem has become more of an adult and lost his childish curiosity and became a teacher for

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984 Words | 4 Pages

At the start of the novel Jem and Scout's relationship together is amazingly solid. We find that Jem is to a great degree protective over his little sister and would do anything to prevent her from getting hurt. A case of Jem's protective side is when Scout discovers gum in the tree hole and Jem immediately tells her to 'spit it out right now!' followed by telling her to 'go gargle – right now, you hear me?' He talks about all the gossip of the town, for the most part about Boo Radley and we see that he has an extremely distinctive imagination.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem, or Jeremy Atticus Finch, is Scout's brother, and throughout the story he changes and matures a lot through a series of stages. First, you have the event that caused this, the trial, then you have the influence that it put upon Jem ,and lastly, how he had overall changed from the experience. After Tom's Trial, when Tom is deemed guilty and goes to jail, Jem is mad because he feels it's unfair. Jem realizes that his outlook on law was rather naive and that there's much more to it, and that his ways of thinking were childish as shown when he is speaking to Atticus, “How could they do it, how could they?’’

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464 Words | 2 Pages

This character has an unbelievable amount of backstory and depth to it because he is a good brother, great son, and a man of honor. Jem is a good brother, on page 43 it says “I know what we are going to play.” This shows that he plays with his younger sister, which many older brothers do not. Another example is that he cares about his sister, Scout. On page 44 it says “Don't eat things you find scout.”

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811 Words | 4 Pages

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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853 Words | 4 Pages

Still, everything he read he passed along to me, but with this difference: formerly, because he thought I’d like it; now, for my edification and instruction” (Lee 184). Jem feels as if he is much more superior and better than Scout just because he is older. This contributes to him acting as more of an adult figure to Scout just like Atticus. This shows Jem has some negative traits as well. Jem sometimes discriminates people like his sister based on gender and

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952 Words | 4 Pages

Jem was not happy about Tom losing his trial, he was the first one to cry about the loss and then sniffled, “It is not right Atticus.” Jem also grew in strength and bravery, this is shown when Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout, and Jem was willing to fight Bob in order to protect Scout from his knife. He is also not afraid to stand up for his family, and Tom when people are tearing them down. Jem develops from a stubborn, curious child to a mature, brave, and knowledgeable teen throughout the book, all because he made the right

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1033 Words | 5 Pages

When Atticus find out that Jem, Scout, and Dill followed him into town, he demands that they go home, but Jem refuses: “We were accustomed to prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus‘s instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging,” (203). Jem is maturing, and he is starting to understand the situation that Atticus is in because of his defense of Tom Robinson. While he would normally obey Atticus, he realizes that protecting his father against the lynch mob is more important. Jem displays his courage even in his stance, emphasizing that he is doing what he thinks is right in spite of the challenges he faces. As Scout interacts with the mob, Atticus continues to demand that the children go home: “‘Atticus stood trying to make Jem mind him.

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520 Words | 3 Pages

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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1240 Words | 5 Pages

Jems opinion on life changes a lot through the Tom Robinson case. He learns that people aren't treated equally just by the color of their skin. From this quote it shows just how much Jem cares about people's equality and how he's maturing. After the case and Tom Robinson's death Jem doesn't do anything to anybody or anything that doesn't deserve it. Like this incident in the story, A rolly polly has crawled in the house by Scouts bed she was going to smash it

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592 Words | 3 Pages

Those experience made him realize he has to grow up and become a better person. The reader now understands that Jem learned to become mature and came of age with the help of his surroundings and what he has experienced with the neighborhood and his

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822 Words | 4 Pages

Jem, a young and smart boy develops and matures through many unique situations in the novel. Jem is exposed to the harsh belief, judgement and circumstances of the court at a very young age. Following his father, Jem involves himself in the trial between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell yet takes Tom’s side due to his father's involvement. Jem slowly loses faith in the justice system and is faced with a loss of innocence as explained by Scout“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.

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747 Words | 3 Pages

As Jem starts to mature, his body language and use of words also start to show his overall maturity and his loss of innocence. Specifically, he acts exactly like his father,

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352 Words | 2 Pages

One of three examples of the way that Jem 's character developed in Part one of the novel , is that Jem in Part one of the novel intervenes when Scout was whaling upon Walter for circumstances that were far beyond his control. He thus in this way, shows that he is changing, and learning the meaning of respect and empathy. Although respect and empathy are certainly hard lessons for him to learn, as he later attacks Mrs. Dubose 's camellia bush in chapter 11, and he certainly doesn 't show any respect or empathy then. This, then brings us to the second example of how he is changing and developing as a character in Part one of the novel for he softly pets the petals of the camellia. Which, is shown here in the following excerpt “I saw him

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980 Words | 4 Pages

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

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615 Words | 3 Pages

When Jem says this it aggravates Scout because she thinks that Jem and her are equals, and everything he does and he knows she does as well. Scout isn't old enough yet or mature enough to realize that she can’t do everything Jem is able to do and she doesn’t know everything that he knows. Her immaturity leads her to doing many things that if she were older and more experienced would know it’s not polite or right to say and do some of the things she does. As the book progresses she does show slight advances in her maturity level, but Scout still hasn’t grasped the fact that she is younger and will not comprehend everything as well as all the people in her life that are older and more understanding of the world around them. She still talks back to anyone who tries to tell her what to do even if it’s for her own benefit.

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