Jem Character Development

Change is something that every child on this planet goes through. However, the time and how they change can vary. Different personal experiences can change the person a child can grow up to be. Also, role models and mentors can alter the growth of a child. In the book “To Kill and Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout were the two main characters in the book which readers know the most about. However, when readers read further on into the novel, they come to realise that Jem and Scout develop new characteristics. These points raise the questions, who were they in the beginning of the book and how did they mature into the way they are now? Well as readers delve into the first few chapters, they acknowledge that Scout is a young tomboy that …show more content…
He occasionally teases Scout about being a girl and he spends a lot of time trying to find out what is up with Boo radley. As the book progresses, it is heavily implied that Jem enters puberty and has many mood swings. Readers may start to notice that Jem starts to change into a man similar to Atticus. For example,"I drew bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, 'Scout's a coward!' ringing in my ears. It was the first time I had ever walked away from a fight." It is implied that Jem had many physical fights in the past that he would never walk away from. However, in this situation, he did what an adult would have done if they were in the same …show more content…
This is because of their sizable age gap as Jem is becoming a man and Scout is not that much of a child anymore. Nonetheless, they have also changed as a pair. For example, both Jem and Scout fantasize stories about Boo radley. They do childish activities like daring each other to touch the house or walking up to the front porch. Jem’s sentiment towards boo was very immoderate: “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall... dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch... his hands were bloodstained... There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” Later on in the book, Jem realises that the reason Boo stays inside all the time is because he wants to. Jem also finds out he is a kind hearted individual because he realises that Boo is the one that returned his pants. In Scout’s eyes, Boo is a man that only comes out when the moon is down. She calls him the “malevolent phantom.” However, Scout’s opinion of Boo drastically changes when he saves them from Bob Ewell. Scout then gets a chance to formally meet Boo. Scout then concludes, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was