To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, portrays a young girl and her journey through the racist southern town she inhabits. Harper Lee uses her characters in the novel to present a prejudiced place occupied by people of changing opinions and people of traditional opinions. Jem Finch, Scout’s older brother, is a boy coming-to-age as he begins to learn of the unfairness in Maycomb. After Jem touches Boo Radley’s house, he takes a big step towards becoming an adult. Although, during Chapter 1 on page , Scout reveals Jem’s fear of touching Boo Radley’s house by saying, “Besides, Jem had his little sister to think of. When he said that I knew he was afraid.” After actually touching the house though, Jem realizes that the house was not as dangerous as it appears, or as it is rumored. Knowing that the house cannot
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Dubose’s camellias displays that although he is maturing, Jem was still a child. He let his anger take over even though it went against his father’s wishes. Believing he was protecting his father’s dignity and pride, Jem reacts harshly to Mrs. Dubose’s taunts. He does this even though he knows he is disobeying the person he respects most. A resentment for the crude woman possesses him, but he completes his punishment of reading to her. After the castigation, Jem even discovers an important lesson—not everyone is what they appear. Atticus explains Mrs. Dubose’s actions to Jem during Chapter 11 on page 149, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see through it no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” An old lady, who was rude to him and every other citizen of Maycomb, was a lady who his father respects and thinks of as the bravest woman he ever knew. With this new information, Jem begins to understand people slightly more and continues on his way to becoming an
Dubose’s camellias displays that although he is maturing, Jem was still a child. He let his anger take over even though it went against his father’s wishes. Believing he was protecting his father’s dignity and pride, Jem reacts harshly to Mrs. Dubose’s taunts. He does this even though he knows he is disobeying the person he respects most. A resentment for the crude woman possesses him, but he completes his punishment of reading to her. After the castigation, Jem even discovers an important lesson—not everyone is what they appear. Atticus explains Mrs. Dubose’s actions to Jem during Chapter 11 on page 149, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see through it no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” An old lady, who was rude to him and every other citizen of Maycomb, was a lady who his father respects and thinks of as the bravest woman he ever knew. With this new information, Jem begins to understand people slightly more and continues on his way to becoming an