The Universal theme, Coming of Age, is the state of growing up or showing maturity. Coming of Age is often used by authors because it shows the growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee showed Coming of Age through Jem. He showed Coming of Age when he decided to follow his own moral compass instead of the advice of others.
Jem showed growth in many different ways, one of which was mental. He started to think like an adult as he got older. After Mrs. Dubose's death, his opinion towards her changed. Atticus said, “...she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did."(Lee 148). There was also a time when Jem disobeyed Atticus.