To Kill A Mockingbird Character Development

“We don’t grow when things are easy; we grow when we face challenges.” - Anonymous Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, even though written in the 1960s still strikes out with one of its themes, character development. Life hasn’t changed for five decades later as we still witness social injustice around the world, we still witness racism and inequality, we still fight for the good to succeed and for the humanity. Children are like mockingbirds - born innocent, born free, born clean and full of hope. The title of the novel is a symbol of this and two of the main characters Jem and Scout truly represent how much a child can grow and change, how much life situations can teach them lessons. Scout and Jem have grown and developed as characters …show more content…
Harper Lee introduces her as a five year old girl who loves adventure, wears pants instead of dresses, and can punch if needed. In a way she doesn’t fit in with the other Southern girls of the time, because her father had thought her to be intelligent, thoughtful and confident. But also she does because she talks, thinks and behaves like everyone else at her age. At school Cecil makes fun of Atticus, her father, and tells her that Atticus defends “niggers”. “You can just take that back, boy” said Scout. “This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs, was the beginning of rather thin time for Jem and me. My fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly.”(82) We tell that Scout responds in a childish immature way because the first thing that came to her mind was to fight. Fighting is the solution for people who are weak and more primitive. Even though Atticus tries to teach her lifelong lessons Scout shows that she is still at the beginning of her journey of growth. In the beginning of the story Jem and Scout show that they are not ready to comprehend Atticus’s life lessons. They are just kids playing in the backyard, enjoying their careless …show more content…
In contrast with Scout though, he has changed into a disappointed young person, whose belief in positivity and humanity seems lost. After the trial he was frustrated and confused in his realisation that Maycomb, his village, is a racist place. “ I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like.” (p237) Jem’s growth took some time, he needed the whole summer to comprehend the situation. Right after the trial he actually withdrew in his own world - he was talking about how much chest hair he had grown and how he is going to join a football team in the fall. Jem’s character growth was happening slowly inside him. On the outside he pretended not to care and may be tried to forget about the disappointing