Conscience In To Kill A Mockingbird

Conscience is the voice viewed as a guide to the rightness and wrongness in one character and behavior, and in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the brother of the narrator, Jem, changes throughout the story and realizes that the conscience of plenty of the residents in Maycomb is disturbing and wrong. When Atticus said “…before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience” (105). Jem represented the theme by having his conscience is not affected by other’s, and Jem found himself, by himself. Why is conscience not affected by others? Well, since a person is the only decider of how they act and how they feel about what happens around them, it is decided
by them, and not other people. Status quo is the current popular belief in religion, politics, as well as the current universe of obligation. We know that Jem is against the status quo, since he decided to offend the other’s beliefs and supported the African American residents of Maycomb. Jem’s conscience changes throughout the story, showing the depth of his character and his feelings on the racism of Maycomb. Jem knows that someone depleting you of your civil rights isn’t fair, because in chapter seven of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout says “When we went in the house I saw he had been crying” (71) This is, of course, after the events of Nathan Radley filling the tree being used by Arthur Radley to send messages to Jem and Scout through the knot in the tree. Jem was crying, as he knows that it isn’t right for Nathan to block Arthur’s communication to his sister and himself. Jem quickly noticed that it is unjust to remove another’s right, which is an action that numerous residents in Maycomb find acceptable. Residents of Maycomb find it acceptable since in chapter 15 a mob of Maycomb residents wishes to lynch Tom Robinson and not give him the fair trial that he deserves. “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch” (172) This means that Jem is against the status quo since he doesn’t like it when basic rights are taken away by those such as Nathan Radley, and is a person who knows what he believes is just.
Jem knows that lynching someone isn’t right, and is something that conflicts with his conscience, because in chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird during a scene where a mob storms the jail, looking for Tom Robinson, Jem refuses to leave to jail and wants to protect his dad and Tom Robinson, “‘Go home, I said’ Jem shook his head” (173) Jem wished to stay and help Atticus and Tom Robinson be safe, despite the majority of people in the room wanting Tom dead.
Because of his refusal, Jem is against the status quo, since his conscience tells him that lynching Tom Robinson isn’t correct, even if he was accused of rape. Jem knows that Tom has not been proven guilty and hasn’t been given a fair trial, so Tom Robinson should not be sentenced to death, by those who aren’t the judges of the court. Jem knows that lynching is not moral, and Jem is a moral
person.
Jem knows that being convicted of an action, that you had not committed, also is unjust and awful, because on chapter 22, “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’” (242). Jem was upset that Tom Robinson was sent to jail for something that he didn’t do, while others thought it was great since Tom Robinson insulted what they thought was a picture of a “good southern white woman”. Jem’s personal belief that people should get a fair trial broke the status quo because most believed that an African American man such as Tom Robinson, didn’t deserve as such, since they were racist. “Face was streaked with tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd” (242). Racism is a problem where a person of one race has prejudice and believes in stereotypes of the other, usually believing the other is lesser, and Jem could see this, however some might not see it that way. Others may say the only reason that Jem was crying, is because his dad lost the court case, this, however, is not the case. Jem is quite clearly quoted saying that “It ain’t right”, so he believes the outcome is not fair for Tom Robinson, and has empathy for him, as he has pity and knows how Tom Robinson feels. So, Jem is against the status quo, because he decided to go against what others thought and supported the African American residents of Maycomb. Jem’s personal belief that people should get a fair trial broke the status quo, Jem’s
conscience tells him that lynching isn’t right, and he doesn’t like it when basic rights are taken away. Jem represented the theme by not being affected by other’s conscience and proved that people cannot be affected by other people’s beliefs.