Jem´s Maturity in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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“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 had changed throughout the story from acting like a child and doing things that children do to becoming more mature and taking part in the community. When Dill had ran away from his mom and stepdad during the summer Jem and Scout had found him under the bed in Scout’s room. Scout was planning to hide him in her room: however, Jem had other plans. “Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. “Atticus, can you come here a minute, sir?” (pg. 74) For years, Jem and Dill had been the best of friends. Dill had found Jem trustworthy, however, Jem was willing to do what was right even if it means losing a friends trust. Towards the end of the summer, when Dill was getting ready to leave Jem felt that it was necessary that Dill should learn to swim. He has spent the next week going to the creek to teach him. "Jem had discovered with angry amazement that nobody had ever bothered to teach Dill how to swim, a skill Jem considered necessary as walking. They had spent two afternoons at the creek, they said they were going in ...

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...person's word over a black's. Jem knows it's not fair because he knows that Tom didn't do anything and they were being unfair to him because of the color of his skin.

To be able to change, it takes a lot of dignity and faith and courage from both your peers and yourself. However, once the change has been made, you have the power to change others as well. Jem showed us this by taking part in something major that was going on in the community and being willing to make a change. We can also be like Jem. We can participate in school functions; we can even take part in things around our community such as volunteering at the local food bank. As we read about Jem maturing and taking part in the community, we learned that it takes a strong person to overcome the barriers of society.

Works Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. Print.

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