The Journey to Maturity Childhood innocence tends to fade as one starts to experience different aspects of life. However, maturity comes earlier for some than others as they undergo different experiences. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem Finch sees a time in his life that shapes his progression from a child to a young man. Jem, a main character in this book, comes to many realizations that move him from one point to the next. Not knowing much, he encounters eye opening situations that force him to lose his childlike manner and become someone serious and mature. Jem’s loss of innocence is an inevitable part of his journey to maturity. At first, we can see that Jem is not aware of how unfair the society can be …show more content…
When the novel introduces Boo Radley, a character set apart from society for his differences, Jem is a child trying to satisfy his curiosity by catching at least a glimpse of Boo. He sets up a plan to communicate with Boo, saying that he is “going to give a note to Boo Radley” (Lee 52). He thinks that he can bring Boo out of the house that easily and is not mindful of how Boo might feel. He is immature in his thoughts and actions and is not fully considerate of others. Secondly, Jem and Dill make fun of Scout which is common for mischievous boys their age. Scout says “ I kept aloof from their… schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a g-irl, I spent… that summer sitting with Miss Maudie” (46). Jem is unconcerned with many of the things outside his world as he is not exposed to it and is in the safety of his own home. He just has fun teasing his sister and running around with his friend and is still innocent in his ways of
A principle of growing up is that at some point, every child goes through a loss of innocence. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, it is easy to see the young characters growing up and beginning to notice things they never noticed before. One character in particular being Jem. He goes through the maturing stage throughout the book and it recognizes how he did so. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem faces a loss of innocence causing him to see from a more mature point of view.
Anne Frank once said “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it is a bildungsroman novel that follows Jem Finch as he grows up in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Over the course of several summers he, along with his sister Scout , face obstacles and challenges which consist of their mean old neighbor Ms.Dubose and the recluse Boo Radley. Although, in the beginning of the novel, Jem still is a child physically and mentally, and we witness him mature and grow up. We see Jem deal with problems that arise in a more mature manner. Lee shows that even someone as childish as Jem can grow up and learn to
Jeremy “Jem” Finch is a leading protagonist in Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” published in 1960. Jem matured greatly throughout the duration of the book, starting to resemble and idolize his father, achieves the status of a guardian to his sister and introduces a whole new set of ideals in his lifestyle. He embodies the themes of growth. Throughout the novel we see how perceptions of things such as courage, respect, tolerance, and cruelty changes Jem as he matures.
To mature is to grow up and understand the world around oneself. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the character of Jem matures and learns many lessons from his father Atticus, neighbor Mrs Dubose, and the figure of Tom Robinson who help him to grow up. Over time, the reader sees Jem learn the life lessons of always doing the right thing, showing courage in the face of adversity, and learning that life is not always fair.
Have you ever wondered how you got to where you are now and what the changing points in your life were? Well, in To Kill a Mockingbird, we see how Scout grows up and what her changing points were. We also see how Jem matures through Scout’s eyes. Through the duration of this novel, these kids go through something most kids never have to deal with. As the Great Depression is happening, the trial of Tom Robinson, and having been attacked by Bob Ewell, Scout and Jem have to mature and act more adult like to get through these points in their lives.
Like the book had been stated jem was only 10 years old when this book started. Now most 10 year olds have almost no knowledge of the world. This was expected but as the book represents jem shows us this multiple times. The first big example in the book was when scout had found the a piece of gum in the tree hole, the text states, “Don't eat things you find scout.” This is showing that Atticus has taught him at a very young age or Jem caught on to the idea dn knew it was bad. Another example in the book was when Jem wanted to contact Boo radley or Arther. Jem knew,”If i had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning then my funeral would have been held that afternoon.” He had made sure they went together just in case something bad were to happen.
Jem refuses to admit it, but he is terrified of Boo and the horror stories that lurk around him. When Dill challenges him to knock on the doors of the Radley Place, he unsurprisingly follows through because “he loved his honor more than his head” (13). The importance of preserving his reputation and pride overpowers his fear. After the incident, Jem becomes more assertive and constantly boasts about his accomplished feat; he believes that it was an act of bravery, conquering something that no one else dared to do. Dill incessantly tests Jem’s willingness to take on new risks and the Boo Radley Game is invented. The children mock Boo in front of the entire town on a daily basis, and Jem believes he is proving a point by doing a harmless, comical thing. Atticus catches them in the action, yet “[he] hasn’t said [they] couldn’t, therefore [they] could...Jem had thought of a way around it” (41). Like most kids, Jem is brutally honest and goes off of what he hears and what is in plain sight. His doings are prompted by the innocence he still has as well as his lack of exposure to the darker sides of the world. He is unable to make higher-level connections or construct advanced ideas about his environment yet, showing that he is no more mature than the next child.
Everyday, people of all ages lose their innocence and develop morally through their daily experiences. Children deal with mishaps on the playground, conflicts with friends and family, and trouble in school. Similarly, Adults deal with conflicts within their own families, problems at work, and the loss of a loved one. In each situation, the person is learning important lessons that impact the way a person thinks, acts, approaches situations, and treats others. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem loses his innocence and grows morally through his daily experiences in three stages of understanding in Maycomb, Alabama.
“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
At the beginning of the story, Jem and Scout was young , childish and lacked the ability to see things from other's point of view. From the children's point-of-view, their most compelling neighbor is Boo Radley, a man that always stay in his house and none of them has ever seen. During the summer , they find Boo as a chracacter of their amusement. They sneak over to Boo house and get a peek at him. They also acting out an entire Radley family. "Jem parceled out our roles: I was Mrs. Radley, and all I had to do was come out andsweep the porch. Dill was old Mr. Radley: he walked up and down the sidewalk andcoughed when Jem spoke to him. Jem, naturally, was Boo: he went under the frontsteps and shrieked and howled from time to time"(chapter 4). Eventually , Atticus catch them and order
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows us how Jem changed his perspective and matured throughout the novel in his understanding of other people. Jem is 10 years old who lives with his father, Atticus and his little sister Scout. Although the novel is narrated by Scout the reader can see the perspective of how Jem matures. They are both put in situations that make Jem question his way of thinking. The people around Jem influenced him on how to gain a greater understanding of the world around him. At the beginning of the novel Jem is still trying to figure out his mentality and has a lot of moods because he is growing up.
The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are delightful, spontaneous, and loveable in every way. Scout is everyone's favorite little scamp who loves playing and acting like a little boy. Atticus is the serious but compassionate father who still manages to look after his children after his wife’s death, and even while dealing with a very important case. Tom Robinson adds the feeling of worriedness, you don’t need to worry about the other characters well being like you do Tom’s. However, the best character is Jem, the older brother of Scout and the son of Atticus.
Through the course of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem encounters a series of events that cause him to grow up. During Tom Robinson’s trial, Jem’s eyes were opened to the racism and prejudice of the South: loss of innocence, a major theme in the novel, is a realization of the cruelty and injustice in the world, and that one must develop a tolerance for it.
Though he isn’t completely in the dark about the way people are treated in society, but he doesn’t fully understand the whole concept of people getting treated differently, instead he only understands what Atticus has told him. The first time we see a side of who Jem really is, is when Scout gets into a fight with Walter Cunningham in the playground and Jem breaks it up. When this happens we see that Jem is already influenced by society and particularly by Atticus. When Jem breaks up the fight, it shows that he already has his mind made up that people shouldn’t be hurt or beaten up for a poor reason. Atticus has already taught Jem that just because someone hurts you, you shouldn’t just go and hurt them back. Having heard from Atticus that the Cunningham’s are poor and do not have a lot of possessions or accessories, Jem knows that they should be treated with utmost respect instead of being bullied and treated badly. From this even though it is at the beginning of the book we see that Jem is respectful though easily influenced by those around