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To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis

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When a difficult circumstance or situation you don’t understand crosses your path in life, how will you react? Will you come out learning something or will you stumble? Coming of age is something everyone will experience sooner or later. In Chapter 14 of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses character, setting and conflict to develop the theme coming of age.

Characters in To Kill A Mockingbird grow in maturity to a great extent. For example, this particular scene shows how Jem was able to be the bigger person despite the altercation that had just occurred between him and his little sister. She says “He was tryin’ to tell me what to do. I don’t have to mind him now, do I?” “Night, Scout” Jem murmured while hostility was still lingering in the air. This scene also reveals that although Dill did runaway from home, he exemplified a great deal of responsibility by using his money to buy a ticket, ride the train …show more content…

When Dill arrives, the mood becomes very serious. Dill and Scout were shocked that Jem would tell on Dill. “Dill, I had to tell Atticus. You can’t run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin’ ” Jem had to stand his ground in the tense atmosphere and he was not afraid to do it. An immature, irresponsible teen wouldn’t have “snitched” on his friend, but Jem felt that it was the right thing to do.

The conflict contributed to how To Kill A Mockingbird got its theme. We see that after Scout was lectured by Jem, she attacks him. Scout explained “His maddening superiority was unbearable these days”. “Now I mean it Scout, you antagonize Aunty and I’ll— I’ll spank you!” is what Jem shouts that got her blood boiling.“ . A sensible or “of age” child would not become defensive when getting corrected. At this point she is not “of age” yet but we can see how she evolves from this point. If this conflict in the scene did not take place, we would not be able to see her growth towards the

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Scout started a between her, Aunty, and Atticus and it was causing more stress with Atticus and when Jem overheard Jem told Scout to leave Aunty alone. When Scout figured Jem was telling to do something she didn’t like it very much but Jem got angry and told her “now I mean it, Scout, you antagonize Aunty and I’ll-I’ll spank you” which is something an older adult would do like Atticus. (184) Now that Jem is different and more mature, he tries to calm down Scout in his own way so the situation doesn’t get bigger. By doing this Scout thinks that Jem is now telling her what to do and when she throws a fit he tells her she’s going to hit her.

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To begin, after the fire at Miss Maudie’s, Jem learns that Boo Radley put a blanket around Scout, he decided to come clean. “Jem seemed to have lost his mind. He began pouring out our secrets right and left in total discretion for my safety, if not his own, omitting nothing, knot-hole, pants and all”(Lee 98). This demonstrates Jem’s maturity because he did not have to tell Atticus everything about what they have done to Boo Radley, but because he felt bad because they had the wrong impression of Boo he told Atticus everything. The second time is after Jem looked like he would bother Boo Radley and Atticus told him not to Jem decided that he would leave Boo Radley alone.

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Jem was in utter distress when the word “guilty” was spoken. He realized that everything he thought was true, was not. Scout was overcome with anger upon Miss Caroline’s request that she stop learning outside of school. She had a hard time understanding the true meaning of her teacher’s words. Dill was struck with tons of emotion when Mr. Gilmer was rude to Tom.

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Jem directly says Dill has to tell his parents where he is. Maturity comes in different ways either expressly or physical. Therefore, Jem is a caring old brother and son. Jem is an imaginative, courageous and curious young adult who is also bossy and stubborn at the same time. Being able to want to take care of his sister while in his teenage years and wanting to be lawyer just like his father “I thought I wanted to be a lawyer…”

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Dill stood behind as Jem took the role of the risk taker. After Jem touched the Radley house they darted away. Jem helped the others escape but when he tried he lost his pants. During this time Dill I infer probably was filled with adrenaline as his young imagination is thinking of different scenarios where Boo or somebody was chasing them influencing them to run in the opposite way of the Radley house. As, Dill is faced with racial and social class issues during his lifetime it affects his view and perspective on life and the cruel era of the Great Depression and racial inequalities.

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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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There are many important lessons that are taught to Jem and Scout, but there is one that has an important effect on the children till the end. This significant lesson is being able to identify right from wrong. Throughout the book, this lesson is demonstrated, but more specifically, there is one scene where this lesson stands out the most. The mockingbird scene has a compelling meaning towards the lesson. The foreshadowing of the scene, in addition to the symbolism of the mockingbird, and the affecting character of Scout, add an important effect on the stimulating Coming of Age experience of Scout and Jem.

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In the beginning of their conversation, Jem consoles Scout after the incident with Aunt Alexandra. However, the passage mostly focuses on Jem’s conversation to Scout. They argue about society and meanings of difficult concepts such as background. Lee uses this academic argument to establish that Jem has changed from the beginning of the story when he was childish and brash.

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(172) As they watch this conflict, she starts to understand mob mentality and wants to go to her father’s side, but Jem and Dill hold her back. She made it to her father and noticed Mr. Cunningham. She started to talk about how their family helped his family, and this caused the mob to break up. This incident helped her understand more about not judging someone, even if they're doing bad things. Additionally, when they observed their surroundings, they noticed Mr. Raymond sitting next to the colored people drinking out of a sack.

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“Then I’m goin‘ with you —” I choked. “No, you ain’t, you’ll just make noise,” says Jem. The evidence is relevant as it proves that Jem knows he is risking his life and does not want Scout to risk her because even though he complains about her acting like a girl, he cares for her. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Dill experiences some dramatic events that cause him to lose his innocence and change his view of the world.

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‘It ain’t right’ he muttered” (212). Jem begins to take his anger out on Scout and uses what he deems maturity against Scout’s lack of as “He slapped me and I tried another left, but a punch in the stomach sent me sprawling on the floor” (138). Jem is a mockingbird because in his attempt to civilize situations and maturely fight for justice, he loses his

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Dill’s character brings out the playful innocence by his exaggerations and stories. “Dill recited this narrative” (Lee 186) about him being “bound in chains and left to die” (Lee 186) by his hateful stepfather. Because of this, he ran away to Maycomb and hid under Scout’s bed before being discovered. In actuality, he believed that his parents neglected him and he was upset. Being at the age of about seven, Dill had to have got on a train and walked many miles to reach his destination.

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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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