Jem's Maturity In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Jeremy Finch (Jem) ages from ten to thirteen in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. This substantial fragment in his life displays the many ways he has changed both mentally and physically. His sister, Jean Louise Finch (Scout) has a distinct way of influencing his growth. Jem starts the novel by disagreeing and starting conflict with Scout, however, we realize that towards the end of the book Jem is more loving and helpful towards his sister. The coming of age shown by Jem is also influenced from the amount of experience he has gained. Accordingly, this essay will be discussing the scenes that Jem is involved in, which helps him grow and mature.

Jem is growing up and almost thirteen. He is starting to act like a teenager because he is very hungry, moody, and always telling Scout to leave him alone. While he is excited to become more mature, Scout is still a child. (Coming of Age.) Calpurnia also calls him “Mister Jem.” and treats him more like an adult. Scout is upset that her brother pushes her away and won’t play with her anymore. She asks questions about his strange behavior and doesn’t get why he acts like he does. She will go through these changes when she is older but since she is still so young, it’s hard to understand his

Many philosophers say; “The most challenging part of growing up is letting go of what is comfortable, and moving on to something unknown.” This quote strongly applies to the maturity process of Jeremy “Jem” Finch, a lead character in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Jem struggles to understand his role in society as the picturesque facade of his sleepy southern town is destroyed, revealing the darkness underneath the surface. In this coming-of-age story amidst of a race war, Jem navigates the hardships of maturity. He is aided by the guidance of his father, who plays an integral role in the conflict of the small town as the court-appointed lawyer of an African-American man falsely accused of assaulting a white

Jem starts to mature the most after the case. His [Jem’s] face was streaked with angry tears as we make 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 waiting… “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem. No son, it’s not right.” We walked home. Jems opinion on life changes a lot through the Tom Robinson case. He learns that people aren't treated equally just by the color of their skin. From this quote it shows just how much Jem cares about people's equality and how he's maturing. After the case and Tom Robinson's death Jem doesn't do anything to anybody or anything that doesn't deserve it. Like this incident in the story, A rolly polly has crawled in the house by Scouts bed she was going to smash it but then Jem says, “Don't do that, Scout. Set him on the back steps (Lee 319). After Jem says that Scout asks him why he didn't want her to smash it and Jem says, “Because they don’t bother you, Jem answered in the darkness. He had turned out his reading light.” (Lee 320). These quotes are showing that after the case Jem realizes that you shouldn't hurt things that haven't done anything to

As Jem starts to mature, his body language and use of words also start to show his overall maturity and his loss of innocence. Specifically, he acts exactly like his father,

Throughout the story Jem shows a huge amount of maturation. The book starts when Jem is about ten years of age and still acts like a young boy. He loves to play with his toys, make up games to play with Scout and Dill, go on adventures, and many more. As the story develops so does Jem. With each day that passes Jem seems to becoming more and more like his father. “ JEM WAS TWELVE. He was difficult to live with, inconsistent moody. His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him I consulted Atticus: ‘Reckon he’s got tapeworm?’ Atticus said no, Jem was growing” (pg 153). As Jem is dealing with more complicated issues, one being puberty, he is starting to grow up and develop a more

After Tom Robinson’s verdict was guilty, Jem started to throw a fit because he knew that everyone knew Tom was innocent but didn’t understand that white men basically always won in court. He realized with his age that everyone says people are equal but that’s false. Through Jem’s life lesson, he loses his innocence by him seeing the world for how it truly is and not a perfect as he thought it was when he was a kid. This loss of innocence shows coming of age as Jem is now aware of the world around.

Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout 's perception of courage drastically changes their behavior as they mature. They learn a lot about courage throughout the novel from their father Atticus and what they learn from him influences their choices and opinions. Although Jem is older than Scout, they both experience change in their behavior. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is still a young boy. He is defiant towards Atticus, he plays all the usual childhood games with Scout and Dill, and he engages in the younger children’s obsession with Boo Radley. As the novel progresses, Jem becomes less defiant and more understanding of adults. Jem witnesses the physical and moral courage of his father before and during the trial of

To begin with, Jem exhibits his maturity through his actions. Lee demonstrates Jem’s advancing age when he tells Atticus about Dill hiding in their house. Jem does this against his friends’ wishes; Scout even

He starts to understand the meaning when he is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose. Jem then goes on to further his knowledge at the trial of Tom Robinson. Finally Jem understands moral integrity throughout the course of the novel by watching his father Atticus. In the beginning of the novel Jem is a rowdy young boy. At the end, Jem has grown and learned. The reader can see this through Jem’s reaction after Scout brings up Hitler. Jem has obviously matured and understood what it means to have moral

Jem’s personality underwent significant changes when he turned twelve years old. His new behavior was noticed by Scout, who described him as,”...Difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody”(Lee, 131). These are certainly signs that he is beginning to mature. He is said to have “..maddening wisdom…”(Lee 133) as Scout put it. He seems to know a lot more than he did in the

Harper Lee uses direct and indirect characterization to demonstrate the three facets of Jem’s maturity. At the beginning of the passage, Lee directly characterizes Jem as physically being stronger and more manly. On page 300, Scout notices that Jem is “growing taller”. Jem also grows hair under his arms and on his chest. Next, Lee indirectly characterizes Jem as being empathic. Specifically, when

Jem, a young and smart boy develops and matures through many unique situations in the novel. Jem is exposed to the harsh belief, judgement and circumstances of the court at a very young age. Following his father, Jem involves himself in the trial between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell yet takes Tom’s side due to his father's involvement. Jem slowly loses faith in the justice system and is faced with a loss of innocence as explained by Scout“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” (212). Jem begins to take his anger out on Scout and uses what he deems maturity against Scout’s lack of as “He slapped me and I tried another left, but a punch in the stomach sent me sprawling on the floor” (138). Jem is a mockingbird because in his attempt to civilize situations and maturely fight for justice, he loses his

Coming from a strong moral figure like Atticus, Jem is expected to become a respectable young adult. He starts out fairly immature, especially with Dill over the summer. While they are friends, they share interests such as Boo Radley and “making [him] come out”

Jem comes of age in many ways throughout the novel however the biggest event is where he realizes how wrongly people are being treated. This can be understood by the reaction Jem has after it is revealed that Tom Robinson is convicted. “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…” (Lee 242) This shows that Jem is finally of the age where he can make good judgments and even his own decisions. This also shows that he is finally seeing the world as not all good, because there are many bad people and things out there along with the good ones. This moment is when it really all sinks in for him.