Being the older sibling, Jem realizes the long-held values of Maycomb, but only as he matures does he understand what it means to have moral integrity. There are many times in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee in which the reader can see Jem’s maturity and his moral values. The first time Jem starts to understand moral integrity is when he is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose. After her death, Atticus explains just how much she was going through, and this information had a great impact on Jem. Jem furthers his knowledge of moral integrity during the trial. Jem believes that Atticus and Tom Robinson have won because he knows that the evidence was strong. Atticus ends up losing, which causes Jem to realize how much men will overlook evidence and the truth just to go against an African American. Lastly, Jem understands moral integrity while watching and learning from Atticus. Atticus firmly believes in ideas such as Tom Robinson’s innocence. He never gave up or fell to other men’s beliefs during the time of the trial, before it, or after it. The first time Jem really starts to understand moral integrity is before the trial when he is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose. Jem destroyed her flowers after she had said nasty things about Atticus. She stated, “Your father’s no better than the nig...s and trash he works for! (p. 135)” It is obvious to the …show more content…
He starts to understand the meaning when he is forced to read to Mrs. Dubose. Jem then goes on to further his knowledge at the trial of Tom Robinson. Finally Jem understands moral integrity throughout the course of the novel by watching his father Atticus. In the beginning of the novel Jem is a rowdy young boy. At the end, Jem has grown and learned. The reader can see this through Jem’s reaction after Scout brings up Hitler. Jem has obviously matured and understood what it means to have moral
A couple of townsfolk were talking about Atticus taking the trial in front of Jem and Scout. One told the others that Atticus had been appointed to defend Tom Robinson, but another doesn’t care that Atticus didn’t have a choice, with his mindset being that “Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it” (Lee 163). Therefore, Atticus’s integrity was challenged. It’d been much easier if he just refused to defend Tom Robinson, or not give it his all.
Jem was not happy about Tom losing his trial, he was the first one to cry about the loss and then sniffled, “It is not right Atticus.” Jem also grew in strength and bravery, this is shown when Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout, and Jem was willing to fight Bob in order to protect Scout from his knife. He is also not afraid to stand up for his family, and Tom when people are tearing them down. Jem develops from a stubborn, curious child to a mature, brave, and knowledgeable teen throughout the book, all because he made the right
Jem’s transformations in To Kill A Mockingbird One year ago my family and i were in a car accident that changed me to grow up a little more . I think my experience is similar to Jem’s because he experienced a lot of things in life and he had to grow up a little faster than most kids his age. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a young girl thoughts about her brother named Jem who had to learn a lot of hard things in life and how he also had to grow up fast, that also lead him into becoming more like his father Atticus . In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how much Jem changed from a child like kid to a more grown teen in order to be more like his father Atticus who is his role model .
Some examples of Jem's maturity through out the novel are, how he doesn't want Atticus to think badly of him when he loses his pants, how he becomes more moody and how he is the first to develop empathy for Boo. In the novel, Jem becomes very involved in the trial, fights mr. Ewell to protect scout without concern for his own life and how he is worried he won't be able to play football after breaking his arm.
Atticus has molded his children by exposing them to people in the town of Maycomb who have questionable morals in order to teach his children acceptance. Jem and Scout live in a primarily racist society and learn quickly that the children's
One lesson in the book that I feel Jem learns as a part of growing up is moral courage. Atticus once told Jem that “courage is [not] a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Jem had always seen bravery as important and often tried to show the courage in him but only learnt about what moral courage really was through a series events that took place in the book.
This is when he went out of control and lost all of the maturity he had. He could no longer take Mrs.Dubose’s insulting comments. This was a terrible decision yet others would have been tempted to do the same thing. As a punishment, Jem is forced to read to
Jem starts to mature the most after the case. His [Jem’s] face was streaked with angry tears as we make our way through the cheerful crowd. “It ain't’ right," he muttered all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting… “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem. No son, it’s not right.” We walked home.
Jem grows up sheltered from the evil in the world. Once the trial comes around, however, he learns out imperfect the world is through the racism and prejudice, and he struggles to come to terms with this realization. After the trial he tells Miss Maudie, who is their neighbor, how it feels like “bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon… Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world least that’s what they seemed like” (Lee 288). Miss Maudie then tries to comfort Jem, but it still shows that Jem has been changed because his childhood view of Maycomb being perfect has been shattered.
The act of civility is demonstrated by Judge Paul Heath Till in the essay Morals, Manners, Customs, and Public Perception in regards to Southern culture. Civility is defined as the formal courtesy shown through one's behavior towards others. Every culture portrays this act through their morals, manners, and customs. These three characteristics allow people to socialize with constricted confrontation, However, Till believes that this isn't shown through what was the public perception of the South.
After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about two kids, Jem and Scout, and their childhood in their small town Maycomb, Alabama. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were two innocent kids playing in the summer sun, until school came along. Jem was about twelve throughout the novel and Scout was eight, and considering that Jem was twelve in the novel, he was changing. During the middle of the novel a rape trial occurred, which included a black man being accused by a white woman of first-degree rape. Atticus, the kid’s father was defending the african american man; Tom Robinson.
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout 's perception of courage drastically changes their behavior as they mature. They learn a lot about courage throughout the novel from their father Atticus and what they learn from him influences their choices and opinions. Although Jem is older than Scout, they both experience change in their behavior. At the beginning of the novel, Jem is still a young boy. He is defiant towards Atticus, he plays all the usual childhood games with Scout and Dill, and he engages in the younger children’s obsession with Boo Radley.
The best teacher is always experience. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem, one of the main characters, undergoes many significant personality changes. Jem’s character changes through several experiences, the most prevalent of those being when Jem turns twelve, when he destroys Mrs.Dubose’s flower bed, and when he learns of the town’s racial bias. Jem’s personality underwent significant changes when he turned twelve years old. His new behavior was noticed by Scout, who described him as,”...
Even if Atticus can’t win the trial he fights hard because he wants to be a role model to Jem and Scout. Atticus believes Tom is a mockingbird, meaning his innocent and a victim of racism. For him to take the case makes sense.