Jem Finch- Character Analysis

Older brothers are typically the ones who annoy and bully the younger siblings with love. They are the ones who the parents rely on to help around the house. Jem Finch is a little bit different than the typical older brother to a little girl, but then again his little sister isn’t that ordinary either. Jem Finch displays many character traits. In the first few chapters he displays a little kid who gets in trouble along side of his friends and younger sister, but further into the novel Jem demonstrates more responsible behaviors by accepting his wrongs and the consequences. He also shows how he will stand up for Scout and take care of her, even though he doesn’t like to be seen with her while they are at school, and he is hard on her when she wants to come and play with him and his friends.

Throughout the story, Jem has mostly been independent and just wanting to be a young boy, and he gets himself and Scout into trouble through his ideas of how to have a fun time. Although there has been times where he acts childish, doesn’t know right from wrong, and at times puts his sister into situations where she can either get into a lot of trouble or hurt- he has displays of very grown up choices and protection over his sister. At the beginning of chapter three, when Scout was beating up Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard, Jem was the first one to step in and calm her down. He helped her think about how she was the bigger person and how “rubbing his nose in the dirt” wouldn’t change anything. Jem did a good job of protecting Scout by inviting Walter over to their house for dinner so then he wouldn’t be mad at Scout anymore. It is also a very respectable thing to do because he also knows that the Cunninghams don’t have very much.

Jem is also childish and playful. He is eleven years of age, but sometimes acts younger. For example, in Chapter 1 he stole snow from Miss Maudie’s yard to make a snowman. Also, he would always play with Scout and join in on her games. also,