Jem's Changes In To Kill A Mockingbird

The best teacher is always experience. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem, one of the main characters, undergoes many significant personality changes. Jem’s character changes through several experiences, the most prevalent of those being when Jem turns twelve, when he destroys Mrs.Dubose’s flower bed, and when he learns of the town’s racial bias.
Jem’s personality underwent significant changes when he turned twelve years old. His new behavior was noticed by Scout, who described him as,”...Difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody”(Lee, 131). These are certainly signs that he is beginning to mature. He is said to have “..maddening wisdom…”(Lee 133) as Scout put it. He seems to know a lot more than he did in the

It began when as punishment for the deed he had to, “...Come over [to Mrs. Dubose’s house] every afternoon after school and read to her out loud for two hours”(Lee 121). This seemed like torture to Jem, who whined and complained to Atticus, but he eventually submitted. As Jem read, Mrs. Dubose seemed to be trying to teach him new words, according to Scout, who said, “When Jem came to a word he didn’t know, he skipped it, but Mrs. Dubose would catch him and make him spell it out”(Lee 122). Jem seemed to be unaware of this, but he must have learned new words and their meanings from this experience. However, he was mainly focused on how ghastly the old woman appeared. Atticus explains that she is very sick and that he wouldn’t have to keep reading much longer. Mrs. Dubose died not much later. Atticus then reveals that she,”...Was a morphine addict…[but] she meant to break herself out of it before she died, and that’s what she did” (Lee 127). Jem was stunned, but even more so when he received a parting gift from Mrs.Dubose. It was a camelia from her garden. His initial reaction was negative, but Scout later sees him holding it with care. Jem learned through this experience that showing regardless kindness to everyone is important because every person is fighting a battle of their