To Kill A Mockingbird Jem's Maturity

Harper Lee once said, “As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don't think you are the most important being on earth.” Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is a novel similar to her life. Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama, a town similar to the fictional Maycomb where the story takes place. In the novel, Jem (Jeremy) is Scout’s (Jean Louise) older brother. At the beginning of the novel he is an innocent ten year old. By the end of the novel, he is nearly thirteen, and much more mature. Jem matures and develops as a character throughout the novel. A character that contributes to Jem’s maturity is Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose is an elderly woman who lives in the Finch’s neighborhood. She is prejudiced, and will talk badly about Atticus for taking Tom Robinson’s case. This made Jem very mad. So, he cut her camelias, and his punishment was to read to her after school. She was addicted to morphine for most of her life, and wanted to die free of her addiction. “She was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you’re as sick as she was, its alright to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn’t alright for her. She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did” (Lee 148). Jem learns courage from Mrs.

When Scout, Jem, and Dill are at the court, Jem learns that Maycomb county isn’t what he thought it was. When the jury announced their decision, Jem was shocked because he thought that Atticus had won the trial for Tom. Jem is affected for months, and Atticus explains that, “the older you grow, the more you’ll see it. The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is the courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments to the jury box” (Lee ??) Jem matured because Maycomb was not a fair place for all and realizing this forced him grow up in a