An Analysis Of Jem's Character In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

On page 187 it says, “Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. ‘Atticus,’ his voice was distant, ‘can you come here a minute, sir?’” When Jem did this it represented him moving on in a way. As he grows up he starts to take responsibility. Jem starts to recognize the influence he has on Dill and Scout; they don't take this very well. Jem begins to set a positive example on them to help lead them onto a positive path. Jem losing his innocence and becoming more mature causes him to see from a big brother

Atticus is guarding the jailhouse to make sure no one hurts Tom Robinson before his trial, when he is approached by Walter Cunningham and his fellow goons. Atticus shows his bravery by standing his ground for what he believes is right in front of his son. When Scout lashes out to her father’s side, Jem holds onto her and tries to stop her from interfering. Then Jem refuses to go home and stands up for his father’s side although the odds were against them, while trying to protect his sister from harm. In page 152, chapter 15, Scout says, “... but from the way he stood, Jem was not thinking of budging.” This shows us that Jem has matured from the boy who would do anything if dared, to a young man who can barricade his emotions and proceed with reason in difficult situations.

This makes it easy to succumb to peer pressure throughout the community. But going along with your peers just because can often get you in trouble, like it did with Jem and Scout often. While Jem and Scout and Dill were still trying so persistently to get Boo Radley to come out, Scout got sucked into the various activities they would do regarding him. Which would often get her caught and in trouble. When Jem tells her what their plan is, her indignance is clear, and she clearly doesn’t want to take part in bothering Boo. Since she’s younger though, she follows her brother. “We are going to give a note to Boo Radley... Just how? Jem-- “Now you’re in it and you can’t get out of it, you’ll just stay in it, Miss Priss!” Scout doesn’t want to bother him or get caught doing it, but that’s how being a little sister goes when Jem’s your older brother. The following instance is what happened when Jem and Scout and Dill got caught. Scout originally didn’t want to be part of acting out Boo’s life, and in the end they got in trouble and a scolding from Atticus. In a way, Scout looks up to Atticus for inspiration and as a major role model in her life him being displeased with her made her a little upset at Jem for sucking her into it. “‘Son’, he said to Jem. “Stop tormenting that man... and that goes for both of you.” Atticus grinned dryly. (65)” Atticus is clearly displeased with their activities because he knows Boo doesn’t want to come out. The children are young so it is hard to explain to them and them fully understand. He tries though, to explain that he doesn’t want them to coax Arthur out of his house. And instead of taking it logically, Scout takes it like he’s upset with them. Even though this is the consequence of peer pressure on a much smaller scale, it is demonstrated other times in Maycomb as well. Mayella Ewell is very much a victim. Of sexual,

on going to the jail when he senses that his father may be in danger.

Maturity is a huge part of growing up and in those two books that one or two of the characters did mature throughout the books. The characters have to find themselves throughout the books and by the end they all do. Both books have similar maturing stories but their are also some major differences. Jem was went from being a childish kid to a more mature teenager. In the beginning Jem would play in childish games with Scout to try and get Boo Radley to come out of his house.

Scout tries to resist her community’s attempts to shape her into a ‘proper’ young lady in several different ways.

At the beginning, I believe Jem was on level 1 of the KSOMD ( Kohlberg stage of moral development). To prove this statement there was the time in the novel when Narrator/Scout talks about the time Dill dared Jem to touch the Radley’s house in chapter one. He tries to convince Dill not not make him do it, fearing that he may get in trouble, but in the end, he ends up accepting it. The reason why was “he has never denied a dare” and he didn’t want to start now.. This shows, that he tries to follow the rules, but sometimes chooses self reward over the rules (reward of being known to never deny dares), two stages in level one of KSOMD. As the story continues, he changes to level two when he tells Dill that he is going to tell Atticus that he ran away. This shows, that he wants Dill to learn his lesson. He also wants to try to take more responsibility over the

“Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.” is a quote from Samuel Ullman. This describes the struggles that Jem went through by taking part in the community and trial and by also taking the risk of losing some of his friends and family in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through Jem’s interaction with the racism of Maycomb, he became aware of the things around him. We all learn that it takes a strong person to overcome the barriers of society.

In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem is no longer childlike because he no longer thinks and acts a child and shows compassion for others and the truth. Jem comes of age because he now thinks and acts like an adult and can be considerate of others. The experiences showed him compassion for life the need to do the right thing and the understanding that not everything in life is

Jem and Scout’s relationship together is unbelievably strong. We find that Jem is extremely protective over his little sister and would do anything to stop her from getting hurt. Jem becomes more mature throughout the novel as you can tell when Tom Robinson is in court he cries and also he doesn’t want to play with his little sister but he will still do anything and everything he can for his little sister they have an unbreakable bond. She always wants his to play but he just goes outside and watches her and protects her. They both mature a lot throughout the novel. Scout matures through her experiences throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel she is all innocent and naive. Scout at the end of the novel lost much of her

As the novel progresses, both Jem and Scout are shown to mature, this is due to "To Kill A Mockingbird" being a bildungsroman novel. Through this coming of age process, we are actually shown Jem’s new found maturity enabling him to find empathy and acceptance regarding the Boo Radley myths, as he finally took his father’s advice to “climb into someone else’s skin and walk around in it” when he was explaining to Scout his epiphany that he “[is] beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut in his house all this time. It’s because he wants to stay inside.”

When Scout and Jem are six and ten respectively, they abide by Atticus’ and Calpurnia’s boundaries, but with contrasting responses; while Jem obediently stays within the rules, Scout challenges them, only complying with great effort. Despite their age difference, the siblings play together as a team based off of mutual trust. Jem is the leader of this team and is often a source of knowledge, restraint, and judgment. For example, when they meet Dill, Scout’s impression of him is that he is strange, and she does not thoroughly approve. When she moves to challenge him, Jem intervenes. “…Jem told

Atticus demonstrates to us the reasoning behind everything much like this quote, “Read to her?” (Lee 140). Atticus after the question, resumed to making sure Jem did read to Mrs. Dubose because Mrs. Dubose was in a very bad state of mind and needed help to recover from it. Scout being Jem’s sister it seems to get her thinking to be in his shoes too. I think this because of a few quotes in the novel. One quote being, “I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around…” (Lee 77). This quote directly states the nature of Scout trying to get to know her brother’s situation or feelings. Sadly, she does not get the response she wanted when Jem yells at her to go away. Scout and Walter Cunningham had an experience with their teacher, as Miss Caroline does something unthinkable in an unknown world. Miss Caroline hands Walter some money that he would not be able to pay back, which is kind of how Scout feels when she tries to get to know someone. The people she seems to try to know make her feel bad for trying to be pleasant and

Jem’s ego has gotten the best of him. To demonstrate, Jem snaps at Scout saying, “Now I mean it Scout, you antagonize Aunty and I’ll-I’ll spank you” (184). Jem believes that he has the authority to harm Scout. Even though he is the eldest, does not mean he has the right to “punish” Scout. Jem has changed and everyone seems to accept it.

In addition, Jem abandons all of his childish morals: “Jem looked the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. ‘Atticus,’ his voice was distant, ‘can you come here a minute, sir?’” (p.187-188). Dill, Jem and Scout’s best friend, ran away from his home and came to the Finch’s house. Jem has broken “the remaining code of our childhood” by telling Atticus about Dill, rather than keeping it a secret. He has matured past his childhood years, and realizes that sometimes it is best to involve adults.