Jem Finch's Monologue To A Dynamic Character

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.

Over the course of the novel, the reader watches Jem mature from age 10 to age 13, growing up from a brave and playful boy, to a calm, collected young man similar to the likes of his father Atticus. One of the most important life lessons that Atticus teaches Jem is to always do the right thing even if it’s the hardest thing to do. Atticus Finch is known as a man who is “the same in his house as he is on the public streets.” (Lee, pg. 61) He lived by morals, and always abade by them. After Atticus took up the court case of Tom Robinson, a coloured man, he had many people insult him and make fun of him. Atticus knew that he couldn’t refuse the case, as he stated “before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”(Lee, pg.140) Atticus took the job that no person wanted, especially knowing that he was going to lose the case before it even began. In doing so, Atticus shows Jem that you should always be a man of your morals, that you should always do the right thing even if it is the hardest thing to do. Although he has a hard time understanding Atticus’ actions at first, Jem begins to comprehend his father’s values in the world around him, with more mature eyes.

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

Despite being told to stay put by his father, Jem counters this and ends up going to Tom Robinson’s house anyways. His father opposed of this because he didn’t want his son to get distressed or disturbed by any matter concerning Bob Ewell. A particular point in the story that states such an example is when Bob Ewell spat at Atticus’s face. Jem encountered this moment and was disgusted by his repulsive act. Later on in the story, Jem confronts a situation where he was forced to trust his instincts and not let his decisions be influenced by any other’s. This occurs when Jem pursues his desire to follow his father's car all the way to the county jail. He was nosy enough that he came across a incident where a group of people from the town gathered at the county jail with a motive to kill Tom Robinson. Jem scurried off over to Atticus followed by Scout and Dill. Atticus was thrilled by seeing his kids but told Jem to immediately take them back home, however Jem refused of this. Jem held onto his gut feeling and did what he felt was right at the time, unmasking one of his characteristic as

Jem, as a child, has little respect for life or Scout his younger sister. When Jem, Scout, and Dill are on the hill Jem takes revenge on Scout by “pushing the tire with all the force”. As a child, Jem does not realize how important life is. He pushes Scout extra hard because she made him mad not knowing she could get seriously hurt. As Jem matures he has compassion for life and a realization of how important life is. Scout was going to “mash” a roly-poly but Jem asks her to spare it “ Because they don’t bother you.” Jem does not want Scout to kill the roly-poly because it is innocent. Jem’s statement is very reminiscent to Atticus telling the children to never kill a mockingbird because “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.” The court case brings out Jem's adulthood as he starts to understand the unfairness of life and has a newfound compassion for what is right. Jem tells Atticus “that it ain't right” when he hears the guilty verdict, although knowing he is innocent. At this moment, Jem loses his childhood innocence as he realizes that the case should have been innocent but it was not because of the people in his town. Jem loses his childhood belief that everyone will treat others fairly and now has a compassion for what is right. The decisions Jem is faced with like the roly-poly and the court case brings out Jem's compassion in his coming of age.

After that “Jem was standing in the corner of the room, looking like the traitor he was. ‘Dill, I had to tell him,’ he said. ‘You can’t run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin’.’” (141). Jem was mature by telling Atticus because they can’t sneak around to try and fully feed him, and Atticus has the right to know who is in his house. In the end Jem saw it as the right thing to do and beneficial to both sides. Meanwhile, Scout doesn’t believe that, she thinks that he broke the “code of our childhood”(141) and calls him a

Barefooted, I was surprised to see him fall back in real pain. I intended to kick his shin, but aimed too high.”(Lee 54). This is when Jem was facing “real evil” according to Scout, he acted brave so before they had to be in danger he helped them escape. Jem is Really caring especially for Scout. “Don't you cry, now, Scout... don't cry now, don't you worry-" he muttered at me all the way to school.

Scout holds her head up high and defends her father when her own family member is calling her father such rude terms. Scout shows a mature difference due to her self control and ability to try and act like somewhat of an adult. It shows that sometimes being an adult can be difficult for some. Same as Scout, Jem shows change after the end of the trial. The whole trial Jem knows that all the evidence proves Tom Robinson (the black man Atticus is defending) is innocent, meaning Atticus should win.

In the novel to Kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee, readers can see Jem finch mature and grow. He learns more about life but loses some of his innocence along the way. He had his own opinions on his father; Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson’s trial. Throughout the story he gains the knowledge of pure hate and how cruel one can be to another man. He realizes the idea of why Atticus feels the need to defend Tom. His thought of Maycomb began to change which corresponds to the idea that he lost a lot too. He then learns to not be segregational like the rest of the Maycomb crowd. Therefore, in the beginning of the novel, Jem is focused on playing games and wanting to learn how to shoot; however, by the end of the story, he learns the importance of defending

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, portrays a young boy, Jeremy Finch, over a period of three years. Over the course of the novel, the reader sees Jem adapt to the inconveniences of being a teenager. This is a period in any child’s life in which they change the most. As the reader, you can see his development through the eyes of his little sister, Scout. She gives the reader a unique perspective on his growth.

Children mature and grow up at different stages of their life for a variety of reasons. The children may mature because of tragic moments in their life or just through time passing. Jem and Scout are two characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird” that have matured throughout the whole novel. These two characters went through a crucial trial and had been exposed to stereotyping, racism, loss, and eye opening moments. Jem and Scout have been just like any other child, but were thrown into stages of maturing and growing up.

Jem is young and carefree in the beginning of the novel. He is just starting to take on the responsibilities of an older brother: “Jem condescended to take me to school the first day, a job usually done by one’s parents, but Atticus said Jem would be delighted to show me where my room was.” (p.20). Atticus is trusting Jem to safely get Scout to school, and help her

The quotation also justifies Jem’s feeling of sympathy towards Jem. This feeling evoked really shows his growth, because, prior to the pageant, Jem was not majorly enthusiastic of going. After the incident, Jem was very consoling and felt very sympathetic towards her, offering to help her get her costume off and walk her home. Jem grew a lot as a person through this experience, and became a lot more like his father, Atticus Finch, as

At the very beginning of the story, Jem is almost identical to Scout, he wants to see Boo Radley and he knows almost nothing about the world and the reason why Boo chooses to hide himself. The harassment during the school year and from Mrs. Dubose starts to truly get to him because he didn’t think it mattered about black or white, however he was slowly learning from the things he was getting called and the environment around him what all these names he was getting called meant and why he was getting called them. More specifically, the events with Miss Dubose had a strong impact on him, he learned how people were addicted to morphine and what it had done to them showed him a lot more than he most likely wanted. His experience in the court was what finally broke his innocence, he saw what the world really was, the black and white of it. At the very beginning of the trial, he shows his innocence because he doesn’t take black and white into account, all he thinks is that the evidence is there to prove Tom Robinson innocent.

In addition to Jem’s childish, protective, and playful nature- he is also scheming and possesses a clever mind. He demonstrates this with his knack for avoiding conflict, finding loopholes in regards to the rules Atticus has set for him and Scout, and luring out Boo Radley. This mischievousness sometimes causes Jem to be a troublemaker. Despite his cunning nature- as the novel progresses, Jem changes and develops into a more mature and responsible character as