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Social norms and their consequences on society
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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. Courage Conceptions Jem’s perception of bravery has changed throughout the course of the book. His maturity is a result of Atticus’s actions around him. At the beginning of the book, Jem is dared by his neighbour Dill to touch the door of the Radley’s; the Radley house symbolizes fear in the minds of the children. Jem does so thinking the act is courageous while Scout remarks, “In all his life, Jem had never declined a dare.” This shows that like most children, Jem is often more idealistic than realistic. His reactions are instinctive and often unplanned and reckless. Jem starts to understand the true meaning of courage after Mrs. Dubose dies. Although Mrs. Dubose despised Atticus, Jem had seen past her negativities and considered her a very brave woman. This is because she died of a morphine addiction and decided to leave the world not belonging to anyone or anything. She had stopped taking her morphine, which meant her death would be slow and extremely painful, but she persevered. Atticus wanted to remove the image from Jem’s head regarding courage as a “man with a gun” and described it in chapter 11, page 112 as, “Courage...it’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyways and you see it through no matter what.” This incid... ... middle of paper ... ...ch other to Scout, whose mind still see only idealism. This realization and part of his growth made Jem disillusioned for a while, but it strengthened his admiration for Atticus and his passion to become a lawyer. Jem Finch has come a long way since his humble beginnings as a naive ten year old child. He has come to understand the real meaning of courage, gone from playmate to protector for his sister and has grown enough to understand the workings of the real world, and see the negatives and positives of society. His maturity has been quick and the changes great, and over the years he has come to adhere, respect and carry out Atticus`s legacy and use his father`s ideals to shape his lifestyle. Due to the course of events, his adolescent changes and Atticus`s influence, Jem has matured from a reckless child into a young man capable of making his own decisions.
...heme of maturation in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is conveyed through the characters of Scout and Jem, in conjunction with the assistance of their virtuous father Atticus Finch. Early in the novel, Atticus ascertains himself as a major facilitator in the maturation process of Scout and Jem by incessantly providing mature solutions to his children’s predicaments. Moreover, Scout, a major benefactor of the Boo Radley incident and Atticus’ wisdom, has helped her develop into a very tolerant and mature individual. Undeniably, Jem’s remarkable development into a broadminded and compassionate character can be directly attributed to Atticus’ kindness and Jem’s exposure to the Tom Robinson trial. In synopsis, it is evident that the individuals and social circumstances that surround an individual play a major role in defining the type of individual one will become.
In the beginning of the story, Jem enjoys the childish games of fantasizing about Boo Radley, taking any dare, and . Scout tells the reader that Jem becomes more and more moody as the story progresses, due to his aging. He thinks more; he shows more compassion; and he is appalled by the unfairness that rears its ugly head in his hometown. While Scout recounts the events of her childhood, the reader fails to notice that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is not a story about the narrator (Scout) maturing, it is actually about Jem maturing, and becoming an adult.
Jem is a complex character who changes a great deal in the novel. He begins the novel as a boy and ends as an adult. People show bravery in many ways, both typical and atypical. Atticus, Boo and Jem all showed important examples of bravery. Atticus models bravery for his children in the determined way he defends Tom Robinson.
In the beginning of the book Jem is ten. He is innocent and is kind of oblivious to what is happening in the town. In the book Jem represents courage and how that courage is represented changes the older he gets. In the beginning Jem‘s courage is shown when is dared to touch the Radley house, he does that because he never backs down from a dare. That is the Jem‘s and the kids idea of courage. As the story continues Jem sees how courage is not the naive idea of touching the Radely house. He sees Atticus shot a mad dog and Mrs. Dubose fight with morphine addiction. Jem is made to read to her and when he asks why Atticus says: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.“
Jem Finch is a three-dimensional character with symbols of success, virtue and an adverse personality in To Kill a Mockingbird. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jem was aggravated by the then taunting Dill Harris (a young visitor to Maycomb) so that Jem would touch the house of Radley. By touching the Radley house, he proved that he was not afraid and could take on any challenge. When such predicaments come Jem's way he will usually be able to make the best of them successfully. In addition, Jem will lash out in complete contempt for a wrong against his moral conscience, such as Mrs. Dubose slinging blasphemy at Jem's father. A good character must have a sense of morality to defend what is believed to be right, and Jem has this emblematic realism. But, a life-like character must have their weaknesses; and he displayed that on account of Mrs. Dubose's harsh words.
Jem, a character in the novel whom develops from an unseasoned boy, to a pubescent boy, then to a youthful man, grimaces through a great deal of development within himself. These developments led to distinct changes socially and mentally within Jem. Author Harper Lee used the development of characters as a whole, to
Everyone goes through different changes as they grow up. Maturing, coming of age, and doing the right thing are important themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This theme is most often seen in the character Jeremy “Jem” Finch. He portrays this theme when he begins to enter puberty and becomes a young man. Jeremy starts to become more independent, wiser and more able to comprehend adult situations; Jem begins to get a better grasp on things. Other characters that demonstrate this theme are Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Arthur “Boo” Radley. Harper Lee shows how Scout comes of age in similar ways to Jem. Scout begins to grow up and become more tolerant of others by “putting herself in another person’s skin”. Boo displays his “coming of age” in a somewhat different way than Jem and Scout. There’s a scene in To Kill A Mockingbird where Boo has the chance to do the right thing by putting himself in harm’s way in order to save lives, and he takes the chance. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book that is overflowing with the theme “coming of age” (whether it is shown through the main character or others). This theme is important to the story because these characters are a small example of the changes that Maycomb needs to undergo. Jeremy Finch is the character in which this theme is most represented in.
At the beginning of the novel, Jem believes that courage must be an elaborate act of bravery, but as the story progresses, he realizes that he was wrong. In the middle of the novel, Jem asks Atticus why Mrs. Dubose would want fight a battle that wasn’t necessary and was known to be hard and painful. Atticus responds by saying, “(courage is) when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (112). When he tells this to Jem, he’s telling him that courage isn’t an extravagant act, but the act of fighting even if it’s hard or you already know the outcome. Later on in the story, Jem shows that he took Atticus’s comment seriously when the mob showed up and he stood up for his father, even though he know that the group of men could stop him very easily. Atticus tells him t...
“There is an amazing power getting to know your inner self and learning how to use it and not fight with the world. If you know what makes you happy, your personality, interests and capabilities, just use them, and everything else flows beautifully.” The Indian actress, Juhi Chawla is describing how everyone builds inner self through a process of twists and turns in the road of life. One of those people in particular is Jeremy Atticus Finch. In chapter 11 Jem and Scout decided to treat themselves with some toys from a local store when they were rudely interrupted by their gaustly old neighbor Mrs. Dubose. After weeks and weeks of nagging and brutally beating their father down for his case with a negro, Jem finally cracked. He burst through her gate and went straight into her yard at a dead sprint and picked the heads off of each beautiful white camellia in her yard. Once Atticus found out he made Jem pay for what he did with a service of reading to the crippled women every day for a
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jean Louise Finch (Scout) and Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem) are sister and brother. Over the course of three years, they grow up together--from trying to discover their hidden neighbor Arthur “Boo” Radley to a trial involving a black man accused of rape. The two of them both experience moral growth through their escapades. The focus here will be on Jem and how he has developed morally, based upon the model on the stages of moral development Lawrence Kohlberg . He has progressed linearly from before stage 1 (following authority to avoid punishment) to Stage 6 (living by a personal conscience and following universal principles of justice and
Jem Finch demonstrates growing maturity throughout the novel. After Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout reveals Jem’s feelings. “It was Jem’s turn to cry.” Scout uncovers, “His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd,” (TKAM 284). Jem understands the trial is not fair because of race. He is mature enough to realize this while Scout is not. Another example of Jem’s maturity is exemplified when he is fulfilling his obligation to read to Mrs. Dubose. Scout describes, “ ‘So you brought that dirty little sister of yours did you?’ was her greeting… ‘My sister ain’t dirty and I ain’t scared of you’, although I noticed his knees shaking,” (TKAM 141). Rather than Jem replying to Mrs. Dubose with an insult, he dismisses her comment. Furthermore, this showcases his patience and tolerance, which comes with maturity. Finally, Jem validates his maturity when the Finch children find Dill under Scout’s bed. “You oughta let your mother know where you are.” announced Jem, “You oughta let her know you are here…”(TKAM 187). At this point Jem knows the right way to handle this situation is to let an adult know where Dill is. Even though Scout believes she can keep him under her bed forever, Jem recognizes the reality. When Jem’s maturity is put to the test he demonstrates good judgment and decision-making.
Jem's definition of bravery changes as he grows up; he gains insight and experience of the world around him. At the beginning of the story, Jem only thought of bravery as touching the side of the Radley house, only because "in all his life, [he] had never declined a dare. (pg 13)" However, as the story continues, Jem learns about courage from several events. Upon hearing about a trial where a black person's been prosecuted, Atticus decides, as a lawyer, to defend that person. Atticus chose to defend Tom Robinson, an African American, because it's the right thing to do, and no one else wanted to ,or had the bravery to. "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win, (pg 76)" he said to Scout and Jem when Scout asked. Atticus was courageous for doing something just, even though it's not encouraged. Jem also learns a different kind of courage after learning about Mrs. Dubose's fight with a morphine addiction. Jem and Scout disliked Mrs. Dubose because she was quite a mean person. Later, they were glad they didn't have to read to her anymore. Atticus told Jem that Mrs. Dubose simply had her own views on things, and that her fits were from her addiction. Atticus made Jem read to her and explained, "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway According to [Mrs. Dubose's] views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew. (pg 112)" This is similar to Atticus's choice to defend Tom.
In the every beginning of Lee 's book we notice that Jem is young and immature and his ways. Over the course of events we see Jem grow up and slowly becoming a man. Jem believes that a real man is one who knows how to shoot a gun and over rule their peers. We see Jem change in what he believes a man is by the interactions with people in the conflicts he faces. Jem Finch is a main charactor but also a dynamic charactor because of his coming-of-age change.
The first time Jem shows courage, he is challenged by his best friend Dill to go up and touch the Radley house. Dill said “ I won’t sa you ran out on a dare an’ I’ll swap you the Gray Ghost if you just go up and touch the house”(Lee pg 14 ). This shows courage to Scout and Dill because they thought that if you touch the house you would be poisoned. Even though it did not show courage in Atticus’s definition.
In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem is Scout's older brother who acts as a protector and mentor when their father, Atticus, is not present. (Scout is the main character) Both of the children are moulded and shaped by their father Atticus, Jem more so than Scout, but this is probably down to his age, Atticus brings the children up to stand by their beliefs but to accept the beliefs and views of others, and to take a look at the way another person would see the situation. The teachings of Atticus have a profound impact on Jem. Jem is a role model for Scout, when Atticus is not around he acts in his stead. Here are a few qualities we see Jem develop through the course of the story.