How Does Jem Change In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

Before maturity, Jem didn’t realize that Atticus’s humble nature was a strength, not a weakness. Scout is very proud of Atticus’s gunmanship, but Jem tells her not to because it would be equivalent to bragging which goes against Atticus’s morals. “Naw, Scout, it’s something you wouldn’t 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.” Jem picked up a rock and threw it jubilantly at the carhouse. Running after it, he called back: “Atticus is a gentleman, just like me!” (Lee 99) Adopting his father’s courteous attitude shows he became more

He implies if one does not follow their conscience will, they will live overwhelmed by guilt. Here, the moral of human beings is threatened by the recurring subject of racism, as well as discrimination issues. Jem is an epitome of a corrupted person as he justifies that Atticus is wrong because everyone else thinks so. Nevertheless, he finds himself after the testimony is given. When it comes time for the trial, Jem follows it closely. Having grown up in the home of a lawyer, Jem understands the workings of the courtroom, besides its racial bias. Once the judge goes over the evidence, Jem becomes increasingly confident that Atticus won but his belief that Tom is innocent contrasts with what actually occurs: Tom is found guilty. While looking at Jem, Scout sees how his “shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them.” By comparing Jem’s reaction to a “stab,” Lee not only shows Jem receiving blows of devastation over the case and feeling physically attacked but also points to the broader attack on things that Jem thought were once true. This is something that causes him great emotional pain as he has a hard time coming to terms with general unfairness. Jem has counted on the strength of bigotry but in

He constantly makes or doesn’t make certain decisions in the hopes that his connection to others will remain as good as possible. He doesn’t perform a single action without thinking about how it makes others feel or the impression he gives about himself. The best example of this is the relationship he has with his father. Regarding the night that Jem’s curiosity drove him to sneak behind the Radley house, Scout wants to inform their father of the events that occurred. In response, Jem says, “‘I—it’s like this, Scout,’ he muttered. “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way’” (Lee 75). Here, Jem shows his driving ambition to be seen as an admirable son in the eyes of his father. While this choice may also present a sense of dishonesty, it is later shown that Jem regretted disturbing the Radley home in the first place when he says, “‘I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside’” (Lee 304). So, even though he’s concerned with the way that others think of him, the way he accomplishes this is to make changes to himself for the better. This is shown during the trial as well. When Jem supports Tom Robinson, whether it is for the approval of his father, the black community, or even himself, the motive doesn’t necessarily matter, so long as he actually

Although Jem desperately wants to follow in Atticus’ footsteps, his innocence prevents him from being aware

Evidence that Jem changed his positive view about Maycomb was when he stated, “I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like” (288), but by the end of the story he thinks they are racist. The story takes place over a three year time period and Jem experienced many views in the community that were biased against African Americans. For example, a lynch mob came to a prison to kill Tom Robinson, an African American, before his trial. After the trial Scout said, “It was Jem’s turn to cry” (284). “It ain't right,

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.”

Jem changes in the course of the novel because while we are reading the book from Scout’s point of view we see that his actions indicate that he is turning into a man. He starts off in the novel as a 10 year old and ages to 13, these few years changes a kid into a teenager, which is a big change. He changes socially, he changes mentally, and his feelings change emotionally as well as physically. Harper Lee has incorporated the theme of Maturity into the novel through the development of Jem. At the start of the book it shows that whatever Atticus would tell him he would do it. But near the end of the book when Tom Robinson is in jail and Atticus is talking to the men about to kill Tom and Scout runs in and Atticus tells them to go home and stays there with his hands on his hips not listening to his father, because he sensed that he wasn’t alright and that it wouldn’t be the right thing to just

The novel does a fantastic job and letting the reader recognize this. Jem is a hero like character throughout the novel, especially during the end of Halloween defending Scout from Bob Ewell. He changed some of his attributes and therefore changing some of his views. If Jem was the exact same at the start of the novel and the end of the novel, Jem might have run from the scene where Jem and Scout were attacked. Jem always does the right thing in the novel so he changes a little bit but mainly stays the same.

After Jem is exposed to the real southern town, full of racism, he gets angry and upset. Jem is also miserable, since his father lost the case. At the trial of Tom Robinson, he was so sure that Atticus would win, he was very shocked when almost all of the jury said “guilty”. Jem becomes wiser through his experiences, leaving some of his childhood innocence behind. Scout says, “‘That’s what I thought too,’ he said at last, “when I was your age.

Growing up happens to everyone. In the three years covered by To Kill A Mockingbird we see Jem and Scout both grow up mentally and physically. As we see them grow, we don't see them just accept the world around them, but question it with their open minds and curiosity. Hatred, violence, acceptance and prejudice actions all contribute equally to the journey both Scout and Jem take to grow up. Jem and Scout also have a great impact on some of the adults of the book, and contribute greatly to their process of growing up.

He destroyed her yard and flowers completely. He faced the decision of whether to let it go or take it out on someone. He chose to get revenge for what she said. Jem is very defensive and wants to protect his family. His peers and adults he look up to are insulting his family because his father is taking the side of a black man on the Tom Robinson case.

In times of hardship, Atticus never lost faith in Jem becoming a true and Atticus always tells Jem things as they are. Although Atticus has a unique yet controversial parenting style during the time period of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus is still able to significantly shape Jem into an

During chapter 4 Jem, Scout, and Dill are playing “Boo Radley”, or re-enacting the highlights of his life, when Atticus sees this he asked what they were doing, but immature Jem responded with nothing because he knew that what they were doing was wrong but instead of telling the truth he told an obvious lie. But at the end of part 1, chapter 8 you can see that he has grown since then. Jem tells Atticus every about the knot-hole, Nathan Radley, and Boo Radley. In the text he also showed maturity by defending Boo when he said “but Atticus, I swear to God he ain’t ever harmed us, he ain’t ever hurt us, he coulda cut my throat from ear to ear that night but he tried to mend my pants instead... he ain’t ever hurt us,

For example, ¨His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ´It ain't right,´ he muttered... ¨(Pg 284.) This quote gives an idea on what Jem is thinking about the case through the tone of the chapter and you can see Jem was trying to piece together why Tom and Atticus lost the case. Scout did not really know anything about the trial except that Jem and Atticus wanted Tom to win, Jem in that case was on his own.