A Change for the Better: Maturity
A simple question one may ask is what exactly is change? It may not be a simple answer because, frankly, there are many different forms of change. Dictionaries have many definitions of change. One definition is to become alteredor modified, or to become different. This would be the best definition to define Jem Finch in the novel To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee. In the beginning of the novel, Jem is just a young boy. He is not immature, but he is not completely mature. In, fact he is quite far from being mature. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem witnesses and experiences a handful of events, which drive and revolutionize him into becoming a young, intellectual man. A handful of people also helped Jem to transform into a more mature young man. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses particular moments to show how Jem changes. Jem changes solely throughout the novel through particular events. The first event that changed him is when his father, Atticus, shot the mad dog, Tim Johnson. Before this, Jem saw Atticus as a smart, but boring kind of guy. Jem and Scout thought that Atticus was really just too old to do anything; Scout at one point even thought that Atticuswas feeble. Because Atticus killed the dog in one shot, Jem viewed him as a whole new person. Because of this little ordeal, Jem started to mature. While Scout wanted to brag about his father at school the next day Jem said, “I reckon if he’d wanted us to know it, he’datold us. If he was proud of it, he’datold us,” (81). This shows that Jem realizes that if Atticus wanted everybody to know about his talent, then it would not be a secret. Atticus helps Jem mature not only in the event with the dog, but he is a person who probably helps Jem mature the most. Mrs. Dubose was a mean old lady. One day insulted Atticus, saying it is a shame that a lady lovelier than Jem’smother never lived, and it is a shame that Atticus lets them run wild. She also...