Throughout the book there have been many examples of Jem starting to grow up and taking more responsibility. Ever since the start of the book, he was looked at as some sort of role model for Scout. Unfortunately, he was only given that title because he was her older brother. As the book progresses, Jem has stepped it up a notch and is starting to grow up. At many times, especially during the trial, Jem was told by the adults to take Scout home or don’t let Scout see this. At that time it appeared that Jem was not ready to handle a situation on his own because he had refused. One of the first monuments of Jems’ becoming a man was after Aunt Alexandra had mocked and disgraced the Cunningham name by saying, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him.” Scout was so furious at hearing her aunt say this, that she almost whaled on her right there and then. Fortunately, Jem was there to secure Scout and calm the situation down. He took Scout into his room and gave her a Tootsie Roll to ease her anger. As he continued and walked away, she noticed somethings different about Jem. His hair was becoming darker, eyebrows getting heavier, body getting trimmer, and she thought he really needed a shave. She put all these pieces together and started to realize that this was all a true sign of him growing up.
Zach
Zach has a good point. Jem's personality and willingness to take on responsibility throughout the book has changed greatly. In the beginning, he acted like a friend. In the middle, he was learning how to take responsibility and was ordering Scout around. But, towards the end he seemed to figure life out. He treats Scout finally like he is her older sibling who is there for advice and support. Jem even goes on to comfort Scout and says, "You know she's not used to girls, leastways, not girls like you." Their brother-sister relationship has evolved significantly and if they continue this pattern, they will learn so much from each other. There is a start of this when Jem explains to Scout his theory of the people of Maycomb County. He said, "I've thought about it a lot lately and I've got it all figured out. There's four kinds of folks in the world." He continues on and it shows how the siblings are comfortably with each other and share their ideas. If all siblings acted like the Finch kids, there would be much less problems both mentally and physically in growing children.
ReplyDeleteSmells so much masculinity...I mean, the word.
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