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Character analysis to kill a mockingbird
Literary analysis of to kill a mockingbird
Character analysis of killing a mocking bird
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Jem's Maturing in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
When children grow up, they face difficult problems, and. they learn to cope and take responsibility. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a flashback about two kids that spans over a few years. Jem ages from ten to thirteen over the course of the novel, and undergoes much change, as his sister describes him. Over the years, he is exposed to issues adults face, and eventually shows an understanding of racism and innocence. As Jem grows up, his view on courage also changes. Jem follows his father's footsteps, and gets much of his knowledge from him.
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 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 and Scout encounter courage many times on their journey to adulthood. Courage is often defined as a quality that people have that allows them to face danger with bravery. Jem understands courage a little earlier than Scout. In chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose says some hateful words about Atticus, which leads Jem to smashing her flowers. As a punishment Jem had to read to her every day after school for two hours. A conversation between Atticus and Jem shows how he felt about...
The characters in To Kill A Mockingbird change a lot throughout the book.Some changed for good and others for bad but in my opinion jem has changed the most. Jem has changed the most in this book because he becomes more mature and starts seeing boo radley for who he really is.
To Kill A Mockingbird The Maturing of Jem Finch Society is not as innocent to a child as it may appear to be. In fact, when one really understands the society in which he lives he is no longer a child. This is much the same case as found in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Leigh Harper. Although Jem, being a child at the beginning of the novel, is immature and unaware of the society in which he lives, he matures mentally to the point where he sees the evil in society and gains a knowledge of death. Like most children, at the beginning of To Kill A Mockingbird Jem and Scout are both young, play together, and have childhood monsters or fears like other children.
When something serious happens that would normally not happen until adulthood, it forces a child to “grow up” such as going through a loss or another difficult time. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, numerous situations occur which cause Scout and Jem to mature and “come of age”. Throughout the book, Scout and Jem face several complicated situations, for example, there are many cases in which people verbally attack Scout and her family. Scout has to learn to control her anger and to not get in fights with those who provoke her. In the novel, Scout and Jem encounter numerous circumstances which cause them to mature and “grow” such as reading for their neighbor, the trial for which their father is a lawyer, and having to defend
In ‘To Kill a MockingBird’ written by Harper Lee, there is a precise sense of maturity that is shown from Jem and Finch Scout as the novel progresses. Jem and Scout Finch start to mature considerable throughout the novel once they realize what horrid things adults are capable of, get their moral strengths tested and become familiar with distinguishing right from wrong. Shaping them into the young adults they are.
Harper Lee’s story, To Kill a Mockingbird, takes place during the Great Depression. Throughout the story, the innocent characters Scout and Jem learn about what it is like to live in the Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. The children enjoy being kids and especially spying on the suspicious and mysterious character Boo Radley. Later in the book, the two children learn about the inequality between African American and white citizens through a trial that takes place. The trial points all evidence on the side of Tom Robinson, an African American, yet he is still convicted due to the inequality between the races. The two both quickly mature due to these events, but it's obvious these incidents personally hit Jem the hardest. From gaining a new understanding of the realities of the world, it has changed Jem for the better and worse. One theme the story illustrates
What are the key traits in a mature individual? In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem is the son of Atticus Finch and the older brother of Scout, living in a racially unjust town, Maycomb, which has been hit by the plague of the Great Depression. As Jem grows up, he is exposed and held witness to numerous events that helped mold him into a new person. Through his experience with Ms. Dubose, Tom Robinson’s trial, and his actions towards Scout after the Halloween pageant, Jem evolved from a playful and immature kid to a mature and courageous gentleman through the course of the book.
Teenage boys go through many changes throughout their childhood. Boys become more mature, stronger, wiser. They become men. Likewise, in “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, a little boy becomes a young man over the course of three years and his name is Jem. Throughout the course of the book, Jem has transitioned from being a little boy, to a young man, and from this he learns to become mature and more controlled in his actions, and further, from Jem’s transition, the audience can learn that people must act maturely in many situations, and also, the purpose of Jem in this novel is to prove to readers that people can always transition into a mature person.
“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.
When Atticus is acting polite towards the rude Mrs. Dubose, Scout says, “It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived” (100). Scout is saying Atticus is courageous because he is allowing Mrs. Dubose’s abuse, rather than standing up to her. Atticus does this because he knows he should still treat Mrs. Dubose with respect, no matter how impolite she is to him. After the death of Mrs. Dubose, Atticus explains why he wanted Jem to go read to her everyday, “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 and you see it through no matter what” (112). Atticus wants to show Jem having courage does not always involve violence, and real courage is someone who tries even if they are not going to succeed. Mrs. Dubose was trying to overcome her morphine addiction before she died, and she succeeded. She showed courage and perseverance even when the odds were stacked against her. Through this experience, the characters and the reader learn courage comes in many
...n you know that you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway…She died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (149). This description of Mrs. Dubose’s bravery served as a sharp contrast to Jem’s view of courage. He saw it as the sheer defiance of fear and the strength to overcome every obstacle. Atticus’ description provided a new, more realistic assessment of bravery. Witnessing the immense will and courage of Mrs. Dubose inspired a complete change in Jem’s attitude about courage. At the beginning of the story, Jem believed the courage was merely the absence of fear. At the conclusion of Part One, however, he gained a new perspective on bravery, identifying it as the ability to endure in the face of inevitable failure. In discovering this fact, Jem not only gained a new attitude towards bravery, but also grew as a character.
He believes in courage on a more intellectual level, not as an idea that can be proved with a weapon. Atticus doesn't want to show that he is courageous for being able to shoot a crazy dog, dead with one shot, but shooting isn't really Atticus' idea of courage. His idea shows that "courage is not a man with a gun in his hand, courage is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose." (Lee,116). Atticus stands for his own beliefs ,of courage, by defending Tom Robinson who is a black man and has been wrongly accused of raping a white woman . Atticus believes in Tom's innocence, so he must defend him against the whole town. Although he knows that it is an unwinnable fight ,his courage allows him to go against people's prejudice in order to stand for his own believes. He teaches his children, Jem and Scout, that being courageous is standing up for what you think is right no matter what others believe "courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what"(Lee, 112). Although Atticus is criticized for what he decides, he bravely denies other peoples' dislike and summons his courage to realize that there is a great need for his involvement to achieve
Scout believes at the beginning of the book that courage is all to do with physical feats like fist fighting. Scout and Jem though Atticus was courageous when he shot the mad dog, but Atticus just shrugged it off telling his children that that is not ?real courage?. The children soon see that moral courage is more valuable after Miss Dubose said "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!" Chapter 11, Page 113 after they walked past her house. On the way back Atticus just walked by and told Mrs. Dubose, ?you look as pretty as a picture? Mrs. Dubose was so stunned that she could not say a word back to him. Later Jem and scout leaned how courageous Mrs. Dubose really was after Jem cut up her camellia bushes, the kids found out that she was a morphine attic brave enough to get off the drug that killed her.
He demonstrates this when he showed Jem and Scout to be overcome; for example, when he advised Scout to quit battling the general population that deride her Scout must be overcome enough to disregard the cruel comments and put herself above them. One individual that Atticus respected for having genuine valor is Mrs. Dubose. At the point when Jem demolished her camellias since she verbally hurt him, he made Jem go and perused to her. He did this since it was a discipline as well as on the grounds that he needed Jem to gain from her. At the point when Atticus stated, "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." This demonstrated the amount Atticus regarded Mrs. Dubose for attempting to conquer her fixation. He additionally called her "the bravest person I ever knew". Atticus needed Jem and Scout to realize that he was not fearless for having the capacity to shoot an insane canine dead with one shot; yet he is valiant for protecting Tom Robinson despite the fact that he knew he had lost before he began. He shows them that being fearless is supporting what you believe is correct regardless of what others