Jem's Changes In To Kill A Mockingbird
Gabriel Austell
Ms. Chapman
LA8-1
4 April 2016
The Changes of a Boy
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows life in the south and how children’s lives change as they mature. The book follows the lives of a father named Atticus, and his two children, Jem and Scout who live in a town called Maycomb. In the beginning, Scout and Jem meet Dill, and the three of them take interest in their sketchy neighbor, Boo Radley. As the book goes on, Jem, being a ten-year-old boy, goes through many changes as he grows more mature. Jem learns many hard lessons in life, for example, finding out the truth about his little town, and being involved with a great deal of racism.
At the start of the book, Jem is an immature, adventurous, young boy filled with excitement. He and his little sister, Scout, spend their days looking for adventure in their town. Their favorite spot to be is at the Radley’s house, which is owned by Boo Radley, a creepy neighbor who never comes out of his house. As they become more and more interested in Boo’s house, their new friend Dill coaxes them into messing around in the yard of the house, not knowing what kind of mischief they could get into. Jem isn’t sure it’s a good idea, but Dill dares Jem to go up to the house and touch it. Jem, being the brave adventurous boy he is, …show more content…
has to take the dare, due to him not wanting Scout and Dill to think of him as a coward. “Jem wanted Dill to know once and for all that he wasn’t scared of anything.” (Lee 15). Building up his bravery, he goes up to the house and touches the side, and nothing happens. As a young boy, Jem is adventurous but immature. He tries to find new ways to get into trouble every day.
Jem’s father, Atticus, takes Jem and Scout to most of the court sessions where he tries to defend Mr.
Robinson. As Jem grows older and more mature, he notices nothing in the town is what it seems to be. Still being pretty young, it is hard for Jem to comprehend the racism in Maycomb. He starts to lose his innocence as he is exposed to the violence and racism against other races, although he still doesn’t fully grasp the concept of racism. “‘If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?’” (Lee 259). Jem is still trying to figure out why people are so racist in his
town.
At the end of the book, Jem seems like he has gone through a great deal of maturity from, the beginning. He has started taking things more seriously and has turned more responsible towards Atticus and Scout. He is acting more like a man now and seems like he has so much more knowledge. During one scene, Scout sees a roly poly and is about to smash it but Jem stops her. She asks why she couldn’t smash it and Jem says “‘Because they don’t bother you.”’ (Lee 273). Jem has learned many things as he has grown older and is more responsible about life.
Jem has matured greatly throughout the book. The amount of things he has witnessed and learned has taught him many life lessons on how to be more responsible, mature, and smart. He has seen a great deal of verbal violence and some physical violence. These are great lessons that will help him move into adulthood. It has prepared him for life.
Ms. Chapman
LA8-1
4 April 2016
The Changes of a Boy
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows life in the south and how children’s lives change as they mature. The book follows the lives of a father named Atticus, and his two children, Jem and Scout who live in a town called Maycomb. In the beginning, Scout and Jem meet Dill, and the three of them take interest in their sketchy neighbor, Boo Radley. As the book goes on, Jem, being a ten-year-old boy, goes through many changes as he grows more mature. Jem learns many hard lessons in life, for example, finding out the truth about his little town, and being involved with a great deal of racism.
At the start of the book, Jem is an immature, adventurous, young boy filled with excitement. He and his little sister, Scout, spend their days looking for adventure in their town. Their favorite spot to be is at the Radley’s house, which is owned by Boo Radley, a creepy neighbor who never comes out of his house. As they become more and more interested in Boo’s house, their new friend Dill coaxes them into messing around in the yard of the house, not knowing what kind of mischief they could get into. Jem isn’t sure it’s a good idea, but Dill dares Jem to go up to the house and touch it. Jem, being the brave adventurous boy he is, …show more content…
has to take the dare, due to him not wanting Scout and Dill to think of him as a coward. “Jem wanted Dill to know once and for all that he wasn’t scared of anything.” (Lee 15). Building up his bravery, he goes up to the house and touches the side, and nothing happens. As a young boy, Jem is adventurous but immature. He tries to find new ways to get into trouble every day.
Jem’s father, Atticus, takes Jem and Scout to most of the court sessions where he tries to defend Mr.
Robinson. As Jem grows older and more mature, he notices nothing in the town is what it seems to be. Still being pretty young, it is hard for Jem to comprehend the racism in Maycomb. He starts to lose his innocence as he is exposed to the violence and racism against other races, although he still doesn’t fully grasp the concept of racism. “‘If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?’” (Lee 259). Jem is still trying to figure out why people are so racist in his
town.
At the end of the book, Jem seems like he has gone through a great deal of maturity from, the beginning. He has started taking things more seriously and has turned more responsible towards Atticus and Scout. He is acting more like a man now and seems like he has so much more knowledge. During one scene, Scout sees a roly poly and is about to smash it but Jem stops her. She asks why she couldn’t smash it and Jem says “‘Because they don’t bother you.”’ (Lee 273). Jem has learned many things as he has grown older and is more responsible about life.
Jem has matured greatly throughout the book. The amount of things he has witnessed and learned has taught him many life lessons on how to be more responsible, mature, and smart. He has seen a great deal of verbal violence and some physical violence. These are great lessons that will help him move into adulthood. It has prepared him for life.