Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

In to Kill a Mockingbird, Jeremy Atticus Finch, also known as Jem, a small town boy begins as an ignorant, intolerable, naïve, and gullible young boy who has no perspective or interest in the world around him. Jem begins to go through a change of state and mind, which will affect in all aspects of the human world. The story takes place in 1933, the depth of the great depression. As Scout, Jem’s sister describes, “there is nothing to buy and no money to buy things with.” Scout and Jem live in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, a town of prejudice, poverty, and of troubled citizens. Jem begins to battle with racism, justice, and bravery, as he experiences many live changing situations, for example the trial, which opens Jem’s eyes to see the prejudice of the world around him. Only towards the end of the novel does Jem grow out of his infantile behavior and learn to mature into a true man, where people begin to know him as “Mr.Jem.”

Jem, a not so average 1930’s boy has many prejudice, gullible, and insecure feelings and traits. Jem is a child who wants to stand out in society and gathers local information in order to become a “know-it-all.” Much of his “knowledge” comes from the local gossip girl, Ms.Stephanie their neighbor. She spreads rumors and stories that are truly negative toward the society of Maycomb. Such as Boo Radley and the many mysterious that seduce his way of life. As Jem matures so does his sister, Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. Her main role in the novel is the narrator who describes their perilous adventures. As Jem wants to create a large figure in Scout and Dill’s minds he shares with them the rumors of Maycomb, especially those about their neighbor Boo Radley also known as the “benevolent phan...

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...but also learned from this. He learned about the prejudice, racial impurity, and the preconditioning that races of people are put to deal with everyday of their lives, and how they are accused wrongly for other’s public glory, and why they must suffer everyday of there lives because of the torment other races supply them with. So, when Jem learned about these ideas and opposed of them, he completed his journey from a child to an exceptional gentleman.

We are all born with flaws, insecurities, fears, and misunderstandings, but we work on them as if it is a blank slate. Everyday family members, friends, and the tough experiences we go through shape our lives as we continue to grow. Jem acquired the qualities and conceptions that the mature man possesses throughout his life. And so we can draw to the conclusion that Jem was able to shed innocence without losing hope.