Tom Robinson Character Analysis

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Jem’s Emotional Expansion A child’s world is not so different from an Adult’s world. We all fight the same battles; all that is different are the faces of each enemy. The plot of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee changed Jem Finch’s emotional understanding of his world. Throughout the novel, Jem realizes that the real monsters in his world do not have to look scary; they are the darkness hidden inside of every man. Starting out on this emotional journey, Jem is unconscious of his feelings. As any other kid, he is completely carefree, and he doesn’t see the terrors of the world, other than of course Boo Radley. Boo seems to be the only monster in Jem’s world. When Jem is describing Boo Radley to Dill, he explains Boo as “…six-and-a-half …show more content…
Blacks are treated as though they are less than human. No black man, woman, or child is safe, and Jem sees this as a problem, but is conflicted in his beliefs. Tom Robinson is convicted of the rape of Mayella Ewell, a 19-year-old white woman. Throughout Maycomb, Tom Robinson is known as a monster, and Atticus is a traitor for defending him. Jem slowly starts to see the monsters erupt from their human shells. ‘Friends’ to the Finch family were now insulting and calling the Finch family vulgar names, “’Your father is no better than the niggers and trash that he works for,”(Lee,135). Jem notices all the hatred swell towards Tom and his father and Jem does not agree with it. Previously, Jem learned to believe the rumors and believed what people were saying. For example, Boo Radley was talked about as a monster, so Jem saw him as a monster. After Jem’s realization that Boo is not a murderous monster, his trust in the society decreases. Nevertheless, Jem is still conflicted. Jem does not know if he should see Tom Robinson as a monster because the rest of Maycomb does, or as just a black man framed for the guilt of a white woman. Furthermore, Jem feels disappointed and confused as to why the people of Maycomb only see skin color. Jem knows in his heart Tom Robinson is only being convicted because of his color and it makes him angry. He knows these emotions and why in his heart but not in his mind. With these feelings boiling inside of him, he decides …show more content…
He hopes with all his heart that the disappointment, confusion and anger towards Maycomb are only fictional. However, Jem misunderstands, “’He’s just gone over the evidence and we’re gonna win, Scout. I don’t see how we can’t’” (Lee, 25). Jem believes that there is no black or white. He believes that in the courtroom everyone is equal, or that is how it should be, however, that is not how it is. For Jem, the verdict of the trial crushes all his hope in humanity. He realizes the world is racist. It makes no difference what you did, whether it be abuse or rape, the white man’s word will always be superior to the black man’s evidence. This is not right, and luckily Jem realizes the injustice, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His faced streaked with angry tears as we made our way through a cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right’” (Lee, 284). It is not right. As Jem sees the cheerful people in the crowd, he wonders why the world is like this and why humanity is so twisted. He sees man for what he truly is now. All his hope and innocence is lost. Jem now understands why both in his heart and in his mind he felt all the anger and disappointment towards Maycomb. Finally realizing the monsters were not the ones with big scary teeth and menacing eyes, but rather they were the normal people. Jem realized that the darkness that lay within every man is the real monster. Jem fought the

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