The Character Development of Jem Finch Throughout The Story ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee
Many of us have read, or at least heard of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. This beautifully woven tale goes over many daunting and controversial topics of the 1960’s, shedding light to the debates of racism and discrimination; yet this story is laced with smaller themes that many of us overlook. One of these themes is growing up and finding your place in the world, which is wonderfully depicted through the character development of Jeremy ‘Jem’ Finch, brother to Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch and son to Atticus Finch. At the start of the book, we see the character of Jem Finch as a reckless, curious young boy who only wants to explore with
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This isn’t the case for Jem. At this part of the story, we begin to see Jem drifting away from his sister and becoming more withdrawn as he begins to grow up and discover who he really is. Relations between him and Scout become more tense as he spends more and more time with Dill, ignoring Scout even more. At this time, we also see Atticus’s son becoming more reckless and impulsive which also brings on a new wave of curiosity which is shown when he decides to gather Scout and Dill to go to the Radley house in the middle of the night to look through the window, resulting in him losing his pants in the fence and warning shots being fired at him by Mr. Radley. As Jem grows up even more and enters this stage of life, we also see him developing a new sense of rebelliousness, “...Jem yelled after Atticus, ‘I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I ain’t so sure now!” (Lee Pg. 50). This quote, spoken by Jem after being tricked by Atticus, shows the newfound anger and defiance that Jem now has that allowed him to yell and display anger to his father, a rare occurrence with him: “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I want to keep it that way.” (Lee Pg. 56). Throughout the first half of the book, Jem is seen as an obedient boy, but as the story continues, we see him gaining …show more content…
During the court case, we see Jem expressing deep feelings and mixed emotions for the case, also verbalizing a strong sense of morals for the jurisdiction of Tom Robinson. By this point, we can see that Jem has grown and matured enough to begin to have a stance on issues and formulate his own personal opinions; a big moment for someone when they finally begin to realize that they are their own person. We also see Jem develop a sense of honor and pride which is shown in multiple instances when Jem tries to stand up for not only his honor, but that of Atticus’s and Scout’s. In this stage of his life, we can also observe Jem striving to be like Atticus as he sees him as a role model. “Atticus is a gentleman. Just like me!” (Lee, Pg. 99). Although Jem believes that he is a gentleman, he can still be immensely stubborn and unwavering. This is shown on multiple occasions where he refuses to leave Atticus’s side, no matter what his father commands him to do. Although Jem does show these traits now, he does show sympathy and emotions; especially during and after the Tom Robinson case when he begins to see that not everybody is perfect and people don’t always get what they deserve. “I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them.”(Lee, Pg. 211). This quote shows that the
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.
One of the ways Jem changes is by becoming more mature.Jem proves that he is maturing when the kids find Dill under Scout's bed and the first thing Jem says is “let your mother know where you are" and tells Atticus that he was there.This shows that Jem is starting to think like an adult and didn't care about breaking “the remaining code of childhood”. Even though it would mean Scout and Dill getting mad at him he still did it because he knew it was the mature thing to do.This shows that Jem cares more about doing the right, mature thing and less about having Scout and Dill mad at him.
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.
He also starts to think more about whats right instead of thinking what others will think about his decision. For ex amble when Dill is hiding under Scout‘s bed he calls in Atticus much to his friends dismay. Jem again shows maturity when Scout is beating Walter Cunningham and Jem stops it because he know that the Cunninghams don‘t have money and therefore he cant help it that he doesn‘t have lunchmoney. Jem understands that instead of fighting him they should treat him with respect and he asks Walter to come have lunch at their house.
... he leaves him. Scout points out Mr. Cunningham in the mob and starts talking about his son, Walter. This makes the mob realize what they are doing and humanizes them. The mob disperses and Atticus is thankful for Jem not leaving. This is how Atticus has taught Jem to be independent and realizes that Jem is becoming more mature in his actions.
At the start of Part Two, Jem starts to grow to be a more mature person and develop a want for wisdom and knowledge. “In addition to Jem’s newly developed characteristics, he had acquired a maddening air of wisdom.” (116) In this quote, Calpurnia is speaking to Scout letting her know that the reason for Jem’s sudden changes is that he is growing up and is almost a young man. Jem is beginning to mature mentally. Jem wants to become more ...
Jem learns that loyalty matters in relationships and throughout the book he uses that to grow as a person. He realizes he had done friends and family wrong when Scout said, “Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. ‘Atticus’ his voice was distant, ‘can you come here for a minute, sir?’”(118). Jem confessed to Atticus while feeling he did the right
The reader acknowledges Jem Finch as Scout’s older brother from the start of this novel. He is brave and strong. “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.” The reader understands Jem to be the older and wiser one of the two siblings, but also understands Jem to be brave and not confused by life. The reader expects him to understand the ways of life. When the trial took place, Jem is awakened by the fact Tom Robinson was persecuted only because he was black. Jem does not understand this even though he thought he was old enough to understand. The reader starts to realize Jem does not have life figured out and he is still a kid. Jem shows his bravery throughout the book with Cecil, Burris Ewell, Bob Ewell and even Mrs. Dubose. Jem matures throughout the book as well. The reader notices this while he is comforting Scout and when he is comforting to ...
Jem displays values like compassion and tolerance by believing that all men are created equal no matter which race, religion, or attitude they have. He shows this when he hears the verdict of Tom Robinson's trial. 'It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus'; (212). This is the first time he realizes that there was injustice in the world. He slowly matures and begins to understand that there are such thing as prejudice and racism.
In the beginning section of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the relationship of Atticus and Jem is simple. Jem sees Atticus as older and less active then the fathers of his friends at school. For example, Scout states, "Jem was football crazy. Atticus was never too tired to play keep-away, but when Jem wanted to tackle him Atticus would say, `I'm too old for that, son (89).'" As the story line began to progress, Jem started to admire his father. After the episode with the mad dog, Jem had said, " ` `d you see him, Scout? `d you see him just standin' there?...'n' all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an' it looked like that gun was a part of him...an' he did it so quick, like...I hafta aim for ten minutes `fore I can hit somethin'...(97).'" Jem no longer felt that his father was useless.
Jeremy “Jem” Finch, the young brother of Scout, is a pivotal character in Lee Harper’s To Kill a Mockingbird. He is an active boy, and he shows his various traits throughout the book. As a daring young man, he accepts and completes every dare shoved at him. Protectiveness, too, is a trait of his, shown in his careful protection of his sister.
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.
...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.
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 shows that he is growing up in many different ways. For example, he shows this when he goes back to the Radley house to retrieve his pants. “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way.” (Jem 75) The fact that Jem went back to get his pants was a brave decision. This quote shows that he is maturing because he didn’t want Atticus to whip him, but not because he was afraid, because he didn’t want Atticus to go through the pain of having to whip his child. A quote that describes Jem at the moment is "We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice--that is, until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.'"(Sydney J. Harris). In addition to Jem’s developing characteristics, he acquired a load of wisdom. Jem shows a loss of innocence, after his perfect view of the world is shattered right in front of his eyes. For example, “I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, at least that’s what they seemed like.”(Jem 288) This is important because Jem realizes that Maycomb folks aren’t that great. This also shows that he saw the prejudice in the people, and how racist they were to African Americans. As Jem matures and starts developing a new eye for the world, he slowly starts to lose his childhood innocence and is exposed to the wrong doings of the