Examples Of Jem Maturity In To Kill A Mockingbird

Miserable Maturity When people grow up they understand more of what the world is like, lose innocence, and become responsible for themselves. Most people go through life feeling like everything is getting harder as they grow up. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a character who demonstrates those feelings of turning mature, that character is Jeremy “Jem” Finch, the brother of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Jem becomes moody and more morose as the novel progresses, this is due to him learning about how life can be unfair as he learns about prejudice and racism during the novel. The theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is demonstrated by Jem’s development that shows when individuals mature, they gain knowledge, but lose happiness in life. Jem’s maturity throughout the novel affects his behavior by causing him to react more negatively towards any type of disturbance. This affects Scout and

Jem can be seen as knowledgeable from Scout’s eyes as he matures. Scout thinks to herself, “In addition to Jem’s newly developed characteristics, he had required a maddening air of wisdom” (Lee 155). As Jem matures, Scout notices Jem’s sudden intelligence that he never had before. Along with his sudden wisdom, Jem also becomes moody and often gets irritated easily by Scout’s actions. There is one event in particular that causes Jem to doubt the morality of the world as he becomes enraged with life. That moment makes Jem realize how cruel life can be and learns about racism and inequality. Jem starts to cry after finding out Tom Robinson was seen as guilty despite obvious evidence of not doing the crime. Scout narrates that she and Jem “made our way through the cheerful crowd” as Jem mutters “it ain’t right” (Lee 284). This causes Jem to realize how the world has people who are unfair and downright cruel, his enjoyment of life gradually fades and is miserable after leaving the