What would having a feeble father do to a young, growing child? In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jeremy Finch and Jean Louise Finch are both quick learning children all thanks to their old yet wise father, Atticus Finch. Knowing this, Jem (Jeremy) wants his father to be as sprightly and out there like all the other boy’s; fathers are, little does he know that his father still has the spark in him. One of Jem’s coming of age moments is developed when he realizes something both in himself and in his father, through mood, setting, and characterization.
To set the pace, Jem begins preparing the mood with wondering why Atticus is so uneventful and not out playing football with all the other dads. P. 105 “ … he asked Atticus if he was going
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They head back into their house and alert Calpurnia of their sightings, she at first doesn’t believe them until she herself looks at the dog and determines that Tim Johnson had gone rabid. She immediately ushers the two kids inside and phones their father, Atticus and Mr. Tate, Maycomb county’s sheriff. P. 106 “Calpurnia stared, then grabbed us by the shoulders and ran us home.” This gives the setting a quickened pace. Upon seeing the rabid dog, Cal (Calpurnia) alerted the whole neighborhood and warned even the Radleys to stay inside. As Jem and Scout watched their father and the sheriff pull up and get out, they inspected the dog from afar and Mr. Tate tosses his gun to Atticus, surprising the kids, and asks him firmly to shoot the …show more content…
P. 113 “ “… I wouldn’t care if he couldn’t do anything -- I wouldn’t care if he couldn’t do a blessed thing.” Jem picked up a rock and jubilantly at the car house, running after it, he called back, “Atticus is a gentleman, just like me!” It took him in the long run to gather that his father, although he was elderly, could shoot a gun, something his father didn’t think highly of. However Jem and Scout throughout the course of the first 10 chapters of the novel, already knew a lot for their age of their fathers past. Revealing that his father was once called One-Shot Finch made Jem somewhat more appreciative of his father, despite his
Jem and Scouts’ father, Atticus, is very misjudged by their children. They believe that Atticus is a very semantic man that goes to work, comes back, and has no skill whatsoever in sports. Scout criticizes Atticus by saying “Atticus did not… or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone”(118). This demonstrates that Jem and Scout are not satisfied with Atticus’s physical and amusing skills. They thought of him as an old man in his fifties that had no energy left, and had a routine of going to bed and reading in the living room instead of running around. Later, they visit there across the street neighbor, Mrs. Maudie to talk about how boring their Dad is, when Mrs. Maudie says” ‘Well, he can make everybody’s will so airtight can’t anybody meddle with him’… ‘Well, did you know he is the best checker-player in this town? Why down at the Landing when we were coming up, Atticus Finch could beat everybody on both sides of the river”(120). This establishes that they find out that their Dad isn’t so useless anymore. Even though the children find out all these activities he is excellent at, sometimes even the best, they are still not overly impressed. After Calpurnia calls the cops on the dog, Tim Johnson, The sheriff and Atticus arrive at the scene “ ‘Take him, Mr. Finch’. Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Attics; Jem and I nearly fainted…’’d you see him, Scout? ’d you see him just standing there?...’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it looked like that gun was a part of him’”(126-129).
...reinforcing the idea that the roles are now switched. Atticus keeps calm during most of the situations, but lets others boss him around and take control while he mainly sits and waits nearby. Scout and Jem begin to stand up for their father when he will not stand up for himself and act caring as if they were in charge of Atticus’ actions, protecting him from the evils of others. Scout supports this idea when she begins to talk very adult-like with Mr. Cunningham, especially showing her thoughtful wisdom when speaking of “entailments”. Atticus later shows that he is proud of his children for sticking up for him when he did not himself by massaging Jem’s hair in his “one gesture of affection.” So while Atticus often is being the best father figure he can to Scout and Jem, they are also very helpful to him by taking control of situations that he would not be able to.
In addition to being a lawyer, Atticus enjoys being a father to Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout found out that their father would be defending a black person, they knew immediately that there would be much controversy, humiliation from the people of Maycomb and great difficulty keeping Tom alive for the trial. It was not long when Atticus had to leave the house very late to go to jail, where Tom was kept because many white people wanted to kill him. Worrying about their father, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house to find him. A self-appointed lynch mob has gathered on the jail to take justice into their own hands. Scout decides to talk to Walter Cunningham, one of the members of the mob. She talks about how her father Atticus thought that "entailments are bad "(154 ) " and that his boy Walter is a real nice boy and tell him I said hey"(154). Upon hearing this, the mob realized that Atticus cannot be all bad if he has such a nice daughter as Scout. Atticus, with some unexpected help from his children, faces down the mob and cause them to break up the potential lynching of the man behind bars. Having gone to a black church earlier, the children found out that Tom is actually a kind person, church-going and a good husband and father to his children.
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.
In a town of such undeserved glory, Atticus Finch is the one character who is worthy of glorification. Yet, his humility further illustrates Atticus as a man of pure stability. Surrounded by the self-righteousness of others, he is able to remain emotionally grounded. Atticus Finch is a highly accomplished man of great intelligence, but even greater meekness. For example, during one of their chats with Miss Maudie, Scout learns that her father’s childhood nickname was “Ol Shot” (Lee page #), which referred to his unbelievable marksmanship. When Scout becomes excited about telling all of her friends about her father and his incredible talent, Jem says, “I'd reckon if he wanted us to know he’d a told us. If he was proud of it he’d a told us… but Atticus is a gentleman…and people in their right minds never take pride in their talents” (Lee 98).
During the case, Atticus made a convincing argument proving that Tom Robinson was not, in fact, guilty. With the evidence and connections, Atticus managed to prove that it was not Tom Robinson, who was guilty of raping Mayella Ewell, but it was actually her father, Robert Ewell, who beat her and presumably raped her. While he was watching his father work in this court case, Jem was confident in his father’s abilities. Jem thought that Atticus would surely be able to prove that Tom was not guilty. “Jem seemed to be having a quiet fit. He was pounding on the balcony rail softly, and once he whispered, ‘We’ve got him’ (Lee 202)” this is a sample of Jem’s behavior during the case. “Jem whispered, ‘…we’re gonna win, Scout. I don’t see how we can’t…’ (Lee 230)” Jem’s confidence that justice would be rightly served built up his excitement and joy, only to have his hopes completely demolished when the verdict was
Throughout Scout and Jem’s childhoods, their father Atticus was always there for them. Atticus always made sure he made time to talk to his children and teach them valuable life skills. Atticus taught both his children to read before they began schooling. Although he was ridiculed for it by Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, who told Scout “Your father does not know how to teach (page 28)”, by teaching Scout to read he gave her an early advantage over all of her classmates and started her off in the best position possible to succeed in life.
... 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.
One thing about learning to be conscious is that everything in life is not a joke. Atticus has thought of Jem and Scout a lot in life. Atticus hasn’t been a bad father, he is like a mom and dad in one. He also tries not to be so hard on his kids because their children sometimes don’t know what they’re doing. Jem and Scout also have Calpurnia to take care of them and teach them something’s.
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
While Jem was young in his childhood, Atticus influenced Jem through multiple ways. For instance, when Jem and Scout received there airsoft gun, Jem was determined to shoot all the birds he saw however Atticus denied that and stated, “Shoot all the Blue Jays you want if you can hit’ em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee, 90). This quote portrays how Atticus is teaching Jem a life lesson, and through this, he explains to Jem the importance of never harming an innocent thing, especially one that does not negatively impact others. Another incident where Atticus influenced Jem for his future is when Walter Cunningham’s father brought the Lynch Mob to the jail cell where Tom Robinson was. The day he was talking to Jem and Scout, he states, “I don’t want either of you bearing a grudge about this thing no matter what happens” (Lee, 158). Atticus tells Jem and Scout to always keep a fresh mind and forgive other people when they hurt you. This displays how Atticus advise...
Jem becomes more mature by discovering the evil in the world when the hole in the Radley tree is filled in and when Tom Robinson is convicted by the jury. Also, his respect for his family is strengthened after his father shoots the mad dog, and when he and Scout are attacked. Finally, through Atticus’s determination to help Tom, and the reading Jem is forced to do for Mrs. Dubose, Jem’s maturity considerably increases when he learns the genuine value of bravery. As Jem’s thoughts change throughout these events, so does the way he views life. His innocence is lifted, and he matures first in respect to his family, and later to other people in his life. He is influenced by his thoughts and he shows his maturity through his actions. Jem’s example shows that the events one experiences in life will shape the kind of person they become. The more one experiences, the more he or she will develop, whether or not it is for the
Although Atticus would play keep away in football, he wouldn’t allow Jem to tackle him. Jem felt that his dad should allow him to tackle him, but Atticus responded with the statement that he was too old. "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."(pg.118). As the story progresses, they begin to see their dad in a different view. After Atticus shoots the rabid dog, Scout and Jem starts to respect and admiration for him increased dramatically. They gain a new respect for him as the novel closes. Both Jem and Scout realize what a great man Atticus is. They realize that he is a good person who works hard to defend Tom Robinson and overall on his job as well. They soon have a great amount of respect for their father when he was defending Tom Robinson. He sets a good example and cares about his
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. & nbsp; The middle section of the book shows many different sides to the relationship between Atticus and Jem. Atticus does not like to tell his children how to behave.
Throughout the novel, Atticus reveals his bravery. He demonstrates this quality by killing Tim Johnson, the rabid dog. Jem and Scout are looking for squirrels to shoot when Jem spots a suspicious-looking dog down the road. Immediately, he tells Calpurnia who confirms the dog is rabid and calls Atticus at his office. After she proceeds to tell the neighbors, Atticus arrives, along with Mr. Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb County. As the dog comes near the Radley house, Atticus and Mr. Tate argue over who is going to kill Tim. Atticus then steps out in the middle of the road and pushes up his glasses, and in unison, he pulls the trigger and Tim Johnson crumbles the ground—dead. Atticus again demonstrates his valor when he guards Tom Robinson’s cell. The Maycomb jailhouse is near his office; therefore Atticus passes it every day. With red bricks and steel bars along the windows, the jailhouse adds a solid look to the town. The jailhouse is the main conversation topic in Maycomb. Scout, Jem, and Dill are out for a walk when they spot Atticus. As Atticus sits outside Tom’s cell, a group of men walks towards him. The group of men want to get to Tom, but Atticus would not let them. Scout, Jem, and Dill walk up to the group, but that did not distract the men from their goal. One of the men grabs Jem, the man falls to the ground; Scout kicks...