To Kill A Mockingbird Jem's Innocence Essay

Jem’s relationship with Scout changes as he matures in the story. He goes from a fellow conspirator and playmate for his sister to her protector, resembling Atticus more and more with every chapter. In chapter 4, they are playing a game enacting what they perceive Boo Radley to be like. Atticus interrupts the game and inquires whether the game was about the Radley’s or not. Jem lies, saying no in response. In page 40, Scout yells in confusion and Jem remarks, “Shut up! He’s gone in the living room; he can hear us in there.” This shows his mischievous behaviour and the fact that he is still

Jem Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird “To kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is set a small town called Maycomb in Alabama, in the 1930s. The community of Maycomb is of mixed ethnicity and like most places of that time the white people believe they were the dominant race. The book is seen through the eyes of two children: Jem and Scout Finch who are growing up in this society. As Jem gets older he becomes conscious of the fact that this community and these adults who surround him are not always right and this makes him feel lost. Jem is older than Scout and clearly remembers his mother.

In this scenario, the jury that determined Tom Robinson’s guiltiness represents the Maycomb community as a whole, as the members would be randomly selected from the county. This means that Maycomb’s view overall towards the black population is negative and full of prejudice. Jem, however, highly disagrees with the outcome of the trial, making him one of the few outliers in the community. To him, it is obvious that Robinson was convicted purely because of his race due to the evidence that was given in the trial. He believes that this is unacceptable and that everyone deserves a fair trial. This moral disagreement that Jem has with society is what sparks the heart of the book, and shows his maturity and understanding of other people.

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.

During the process of the trial, Jem experiences his coming of age and lost innocence moment by opening his eyes to the racism he is constantly surrounded by. When Tom Robinson lost the trial, Jem instantly matured and realized how racism in Maycomb was the only reason Tom lost. After Tom was declared guilty, the kids walked with Atticus, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right’” (Lee, 1960, p. 284). Throughout the entirety of the trial, Jem was blinded by his innocence and thought there was no possible way that Tom could lose the trial. It was the moment when the jury declared Tom Robinson guilty that Jem lost his innocence and started opening his eyes to the world. This quote illustrates how frustrated Jem was by the unfairness of the trial. Jem now understands the only reason Tom Robinson lost the trial was because of his skin color. Due to his young age, he had not yet succumb to the disease of Maycomb and realized racism is not right. Furthermore, when Tom Robinson lost the trial, Jem’s perspective of Maycomb changed Jem is left to understand the reality of people’s biased opinions. When talking to Miss Maudie, Jem described to her, “‘It’s like bein’ a caterpillar in a

As To Kill a Mockingbird progresses, Jem takes definitive steps toward maturity with his actions in the tire and flower incidents, for example. He would later go on to repair the flowerbed he destroyed, and take greater care to protect Scout. Through his actions, we can see Jem develop a sense of morals and responsibility that would prove to be a lifesaver.

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.

In the novel, to kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee presents three very distinct types of innocence that are portrayed by different characters throughout the novel. A good part in this story’s brilliance is that Harper Lee has managed to use the innocence of a young girl to her advantage. She does this by telling the whole story from a child’s point-of-view. By having an innocent little girl make racial remarks and regard people of color in a way consistent with the community, Lee provides the reader with an objective view of the situation. As a child, Scout can make observations that an adult would often avoid. In addition, readers are also likely to be forgiving of a child’s perception, whereas they would find an adult who makes these

“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.

Jem initially acts childish but starts to think and act like an adult to decisions where he previously would take the immature route. Jem demonstrates his child-like thinking with his vivid imagination. Jem’s imagination has distorted his image of Boo Radley a neighbor with a mysterious past Jem fictitiously describes Boo as a person

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.”

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a beautiful story depicting a family living in the South of the 1930’s, and their struggle against the prejudice which was common to that time. The book centers on Atticus Finch, the father of the family as well as a lawyer, and his fight against prejudice. We see the story unfold through the innocent eyes of his young daughter, Scout, who is free from prejudice and not yet jaded. By viewing events as Scout sees them, the author shows us how to overcome prejudices, and gain tolerance.

In the book to Kill A Mockingbird, we find many examples of characters who show a change in perspective and outlook of the world around them. Few however change as dramatically as Jem Finch. We see a character who experiences the hardships of reality during some of the most awkward years of adolescents. As a result, we find a character whose morals are shaped and molded by each situation he faces. Jem Finch changes his motivations and perspectives because of the traits shown by the people of Maycomb and through the predicament of growing up.

Jem is exposed to the racism and prejudice of the South through Tom Robinson’s trial, and it makes him question what he never thought twice about before. [insert lead-in] “‘...if the jury’s still out, you can wait with us. But I expect it’ll be over before you get back.’ ‘You think they’ll acquit him that fast?’ asked Jem. Atticus opened his mouth to answer, but shut it and then left us.” (p.277) Jem sees Tom Robinson’s trial through eyes untainted by prejudice and discrimination. To him, Tom is obviously innocent. Atticus, on the other hand, is older and more cynical. He knows about racial discrimination, he knows it strongly influences a person’s judgement, and he knows Tom will be found guilty. Jem realizes this when Tom Robinson is convicted. As a result, he learns that racism can cloud a person’s judgement to the point that they will convict an innocent man. Jem’s loss of innocence

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