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How Does Jem Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Jem finds out Tom Robinson is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell his innocence is corrupted because he always believed the people of Maycomb would do the right thing, but when the jury presiding over Tom’s case does not do what he expected Jem realizes the sadness of life. This novel is told from the perspective of Scout Finch, a six year old girl, and it takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Towards the end of the book Scout and her brother Jem are fascinated by their father Atticus’s court case in which he is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who is on trial for his life after being wrongly accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. When Scout and Jem are watching the trial …show more content…

I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like” (288). In this passage Jem compares not knowing of the racism in Maycomb to being a “caterpillar in a cocoon”—Jem has been sheltered from the harsh reality of life in his hometown all throughout his childhood. Moreover, Jem compares his previous innocence to being “asleep wrapped up in a warm place”, which shows how he thinks his ignorance was bliss. Warm has a positive connotation, and sleeping in a warm place may refer to being ignorant in a blissful place. Lastly, Jem uses past tense words like “thought” and “seemed” to show how he no longer thinks favorably of Maycomb’s citizens; Jem’s innocence of believing people in Maycomb are “the best folks in the world” has been corrupted through Tom Robinson’s conviction. Before the verdict of Tom’s trial had been decided Jem was sure that Atticus was going to win the case because he was too innocent to suspect racism in Maycomb, but after the trial Jem loses faith in the people who live in his town and replaces his innocence with

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