”Take Scout and Dill home.” We were accustomed to prompt, if not cheerful acquiescence to Atticus’s instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging. ”Go home, I said.” Jem shook his head,”(p203). He disobeys not petulantly but maturely, as he grasps Atticus’s difficult situation concerning the case and therefore fear for Atticus’s safety. Later in the story, during the trial, the jury wrongly finds Tom Robinson guilty despite Atticus’s capable and intense defense. Jem is shocked by the verdict: ”His [Jem’s] face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.
Merriweather is a hypocritical person in To Kill a Mockingbird. Mrs. Merriweather is the "most devout lady in Maycomb"(146). She even helped sober up her husband and made a "useful citizen of him"(146). When Scout stays at her Aunt's afternoon tea party, she hears Mrs. Merriweather talking about the Mrunas tribe in Africa and how J.Grimes Everett is their white saint. She oftens talks about Everett and how saintly he is because he is the only white person that will go near them.
Also he now further understood the logic of racism and Maycomb. This is shown when Jem explains to Scout what a mixed child is and how they are accepted into the society of Maycomb.Another example is when Jem sat with the colored people during the trial. Most white children would not have done that. You can also see Jem's logic when he states “‘what’s a mixed child?’ ‘Half white, half colored. You’ve seen ‘em, Scout.” Also when Jem said “ They don't belong anywhere.
Since he is the pet of Maycomb, he must be nice and joyful. He brings no harm to the town instead, brings joy to the town so, in this case, he is the mockingbird. Jem and Scout find Tim acting strangely so, they call Calpurnia. She runs inside then, calls Atticus and says: “‘I swear to God there’s a mad dog down the street a piece—he’s comin’ this way’” (Lee 123). Tim is a “mad dog” and he is coming towards them.
After the judge decides that Tom is guilty Jem starts to cry tears of anger. Appalled. Jem says to Atticus, “How Could the do it? How could they?’’ (Lee 285). Jem is a mockingbird because he can realize that Tom did nothing wrong.
This causes their whole family to be outcasts in the town. After the court takes a lunch break, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to sneak into the courtroom without Atticus finding out. When they finally enter the courtroom, there are no empty seats so the reverend offers them a seat in the balcony, where the black children sit. The children can see Judge Taylor, an old white who often runs the court casually, resuming the trial. First, Heck Tate, the Maycomb sheriff, who is questioned by Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor.
This only proves that the spread of evilness can diminish any bit of innocence left in a persons mind. In TKAM, this is expressed when Jem felt sick to his stomach as he heard the guilty verdict. Also, when Scout couldn’t understand why Miss Caroline would request her to stop learning out of school. Another incident occurred when Dill ran out of the courthouse, crying in shock. Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a novel that does a good job of showing how innocence can be destroyed by the display of evil.
Afterwards she heard that one man on the jury, one of the Cunninghams wanted to acquit Mister Robinson. Upon hearing this she was relieved and wanted to invite his son for dinner, but my sister forbade that. On the other hand Jem was furious and cried. He cried because of the injustice of the verdict he always had thought that people from Maycomb were the best in the world but after this trial he did not think so anymore. The decision was indeed unfair, but it seems that only children cry and think about how careless people really are.
During the trial the children witness the unjust consequences of racist biases, resulting in the man’s death. Over the course of the novel Jem progressively matures and becomes aware of the hatred and prejudice in his surroundings, but as opposed to the adults of Maycomb he manages to keep his vital hope in justice despite shedding his innocence. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is still very much a child, but as the story progresses, he gradually acquires a more complex understanding of the world. Initially, Jem possesses quite a linear worldview and lacks any experience of the evil surrounding him. Consequently, he is somewhat short of the ability to view the world in another’s eyes.
By understanding that Tom was kind to Miss Mayella and innocent of raping her because Bob Ewell hurt her, the reader knows that Tom is like a mockingbird. He was unjustly imprisoned and died, even though he only wanted to help Miss Mayella. He acted like how a mockingbird wants to sing just to provide happiness, therefore it is a sin to kill