Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the tale of a racist society, unravels while demonstrating the change in one of its main characters, Jem, as he grows alongside his friend Dill, and his sister, Scout. Since the story is a bildungsroman, it shows Jem undergoing a transformation from young to adult. A clear emphasis on the theme, morality and ethics, is present throughout. Jem experiences a trial of a black man in a town filled with prejudice, as he comes face to face with reality and its many right and wrongs. The outcome of the devastating case teaches him how everything is subjective to race. Utilizing both direct and indirect characterization, Harper Lee describes the dynamic journey of Jem from a naive boy to a knowledgeable young
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The case represents the biggest transformation of Jem throughout his dynamic childhood. As Jem hears the decisions made by the jury member “his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them” (282). The word guilty embedded itself into his mind, as he was hit with the shock of how much injustice is in the world. At that moment, the world came crashing down upon him, and he realized “there’s four kinds of folks in the world [,] there’s the ordinary kind like [him] and the neighbors [and] there’s the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the Negroes” (302). Still, the main part is that no one likes each other “his kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells despise the colored folk” (303). While Jem has understood the horrible way the world functions, Scout with less experience and comprehension thinks that there is only “one kind of folks ... [,] folks.” Jem on the other hand wonders why they hate each other and “ [is] beginning to understand something … [he] thinks [he’s] beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because … [Boo] wants to stay inside” (304). As Jem is apprehending so much of the world, he is still set apart from the rest of the adolescents. He does not …show more content…
What Jem did was something I’d do as a matter of course had I not been under Atticus’s interdict … He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves.” (137) “He’s not supposed to lean, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it,” he said wisely. “Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard—” (279)
“His hands were white from gripping from the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them.” (282)
“There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the Negroes.” (302)
“The thing about it is our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells despise the colored folk.” (303)
If there’s just one kind of folds, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something.”
The case represents the biggest transformation of Jem throughout his dynamic childhood. As Jem hears the decisions made by the jury member “his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them” (282). The word guilty embedded itself into his mind, as he was hit with the shock of how much injustice is in the world. At that moment, the world came crashing down upon him, and he realized “there’s four kinds of folks in the world [,] there’s the ordinary kind like [him] and the neighbors [and] there’s the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the Negroes” (302). Still, the main part is that no one likes each other “his kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells despise the colored folk” (303). While Jem has understood the horrible way the world functions, Scout with less experience and comprehension thinks that there is only “one kind of folks ... [,] folks.” Jem on the other hand wonders why they hate each other and “ [is] beginning to understand something … [he] thinks [he’s] beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because … [Boo] wants to stay inside” (304). As Jem is apprehending so much of the world, he is still set apart from the rest of the adolescents. He does not …show more content…
What Jem did was something I’d do as a matter of course had I not been under Atticus’s interdict … He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves.” (137) “He’s not supposed to lean, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it,” he said wisely. “Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard—” (279)
“His hands were white from gripping from the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them.” (282)
“There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Ewells down at the dump and the Negroes.” (302)
“The thing about it is our kind of folks don’t like the Cunninghams, the Cunninghams don’t like the Ewells, and the Ewells despise the colored folk.” (303)
If there’s just one kind of folds, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something.”