To Kill A Mockingbird How Does Jem Change

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem Finch’s attitude changes over the course of the novel and starts to understand the world better. This happens to Jem through the ages of ten to thirteen. At the beginning of the novel Jem and Scout have a wonderful relationship. They do everything side by side, but since Jem was four years older than Scout he went to school before she did. When she is finally able to go to school, Jem made one thing very clear; Scout “was to stick to the first grade and he was to stick to the fifth” (Lee 21). Scout is pretty much being told to leave Jem alone. He starts to get older and he did not want Scout getting in the way of him and his friends. Telling Scout constantly that it is different at school, and they would not interact but they would play like

Jem starts to see himself as an older person and he participates in the gossip around town, most of which consist of Boo Radley. Part of him is still childish in a sense that he still imagines Boo as some type of savage. When “Jem was twelve” he starts to annoy Scout “he was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody” (Lee 153). Scout is having problems with his new attitude, but all Atticus said was that he was a growing boy. Not only did Jem grow physically, but now he was growing mentally, worldly, and more responsible. When Dill snuck into Scouts room one night and was hiding under the bed, both kids found out about him. Jem had to step up and be the responsible one and tells Dill, "You oughta let your mother know where you are" and proceed to get Atticus (Lee 187). Telling on Dill is definitely a hard thing to do, considering that Jem had to go tell an adult. The biggest change for Jem was during and after Tom Robinson case. As if Jem had not already grown up fast enough, the case showed him the reality of the world around him. Even though Tom was innocent, the final decision was against