Franz Kafka said: “Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old”. In both the Novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and the film “Pleasantville”, the youth was much more accepting of change. The children in both the novel and the film are very open-minded and do not understand the grimy side of the world they live in. Although this is a wonderful thing, the sad truth is that they too will grow up, and their state of mind will change with them. Mary Sue and Jem both show character, but they show it in different ways. In both stories, the children are much more accepting of change because they have colorful minds that help them accept all people plus any changes that may occur …show more content…
In the story “To kill a mockingbird”, the children were always playing and having tons of fun while the adults were worrying about so much more than necessary. Jem, Scout, and Dill were always able to play around without any worries, which helped them block out the different judgements of the world. In the novel, the children did not have enough education to understand what was happening when the mob tried to attack Tom Robinson. Since the mob wasn 't getting into the children’s heads, they were able to save Atticus for the raging maniacs. A symbol of ignorance in the film is the rose. Before the rose turned bright red, the town had no knowledge what-so-ever about the unpleasant things in the world, but after Mary Sue kissed Skip, the people of Pleasantville were introduced to the troublesome side of things. This is when the colors began to appear, and the teenagers were opened more to the harshness of the …show more content…
At the beginning “To kill a mocking bird”, Jem was very carefree and untroubled, but throughout the novel, he changed for the worse. Jem was always playing with Scout and Dill without a worry on his little mind until the life of adulthood got to him one day. Jem slowly stopped hanging out with friends, just to begin worrying about harshness of everyone in Maycomb. I believe when everyone began calling Atticus a “nigger lover”, Jem began to get more harsh toward everyone, even his dearest sister, Scout. If scout were to as to play before, Jem would hop right to it and they would go play a game down the street, but now, Jem would give his sister the cold shoulder and tell her to grow up. If Jem would have been left alone to grow in his own mind, he probably would have come out different, but he was messed with by too many people, and began to see the harshness of the
In To Kill a Mockingbird, characters are exposed to different circumstances, giving them that “spark” to mature and change. Prejudice, wealth, and many other adult situations, like little the pieces of paper, cause the children to intelligently grow and form a
His appetite was appalling, and he told me so many times to stop pestering him,” so she did but didn’t exactly know why he was acting this way. (153) Jem was starting to change into a young adult so he left all his things behind when he did when he was smaller. To explain, he doesn’t want to play with Scout so he stays in his room all the time and as Calpurnia says he is going to do what boys do now. He is way older than Scout so of course he is the one who is going to change first
He also often goes off by himself, for unknown reasons: possibly to figure out who he was. Jem starts to become calmer, more composed, about things. He also becomes a mature figure, much in resemblance to his father (Atticus Finch), who is always calm and collected. Throughout this book, Harper Lee has put together multiple themes, and one of them is the theme of growing up [or maturing], through the development of the character Jem.
Jem’s transformations in To Kill A Mockingbird One year ago my family and i were in a car accident that changed me to grow up a little more . I think my experience is similar to Jem’s because he experienced a lot of things in life and he had to grow up a little faster than most kids his age. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a young girl thoughts about her brother named Jem who had to learn a lot of hard things in life and how he also had to grow up fast, that also lead him into becoming more like his father Atticus . In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how much Jem changed from a child like kid to a more grown teen in order to be more like his father Atticus who is his role model .
Scout expounds on page 115, “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.” Along with that, he likes to be by himself, and his newly developed characteristics have alienated him from his sister. Additionally, midway through the novel, Jem learns what courage is from an unlikely person; it was the person who was a childhood enemy, enraged Jem by insulting Atticus, and caused Jem to destroy her camellias, Mrs. Dubose.
Because of this event, Jem starts to act more empathetic towards others, and he learns to stand by his beliefs even if all the odds push against him. The latter lesson ties in to the scene when the children visit the jailhouse to find Atticus defending Tom Robinson from a lynch mob. Atticus demands Jem to “Go home... [And] [t]ake Scout and Dill home…” but to Scout’s notes with surprise that “... from the way [Jem] stood Jem was not thinking of budging” (152).
Before the trial, the finch family faced a lot of hatred towards the fact that Atticus was defending a black man. Jem is presented in the novel as a well-tempered character that doesn’t let a lot of things bother him, although eventually all of the comments got to Jem and Mrs.Dubose’s comment “ Not only waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers!” (Lee 101) was the last of the cruelty he could take. In the text Jem released his anger towards Mrs.Dubose by attacking her flowers and destroying them. Jems emotions changed at that moment as he demonstrated he went from cool, calm and collected to frustrated, angry and sad.
First of all, a very impactful moment in Jem’s life that changed him is when he was forced to read to Dubose. He did not realize what he was actually doing to help her. When Dubose died Atticus actually began to explain to Jem what he was actually doing he says "She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you're sick as she was, it's all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn't all right for her. She said she meant to break herself of
Throughout the novel, Jem shows many aspects of his coming of age and becoming like his father, but one great example of his development is his view
Jem starts to see himself as an older person and he participates in the gossip around town, most of which consist of Boo Radley. Part of him is still childish in a sense that he still imagines Boo as some type of savage. When “Jem was twelve” he starts to annoy Scout “he was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody” (Lee 153). Scout is having problems with his new attitude, but all Atticus said was that he was a growing boy. Not only did Jem grow physically, but now he was growing mentally, worldly, and more responsible.
Maturing is something everyone goes through in life whether you go through it early or a little later in life. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a lot about maturing. Growing up in a small town in Maycomb, Alabama where life was a lot more different from today, you mature much different and in different ways. Jem is one person who matures through the whole story and makes realizations about people around him, including his dad, Tom Robinson, and Mrs. Dubose. Jem goes into the story thinking his dad is just some old man but as he gets older, he realizes there is more to his dad.
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.
Jem proves this when he deals with situations differently, by standing up for what he believed to be right, or when he confronts a bitter truth in a painful manner. His word choice and manner of speaking demonstrate his superiority and his desire to act more refined. These factors are demonstrated as he changes his nature and personality. Jem’s change from being a naive child to a knowledgeable adolescent is similar to Laura Ingalls initially being a carefree youngster and later turning into a sensible, indefatigable youth. The gradual maturity of both characters influenced their respective books deeply.
Imagine knowing the evils of the world before age ten and having a full idea of how cruel people can be at such a young age. With the help of parents, kids grow and understand the world. Youngsters can see what humans are on the inside. and with knowledge from caretakers, they comprehend the wicked. Harper Lee’s
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,