Jem And Scout Develop From Innocence To Maturity

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Carl Meyer To Kill a Mockingbird Essay In the novel the children change from innocence to maturity, the author shows the development of Jem and Scout through different experiences they have. Both Jem and Scout change from two innocent children to two mature and understanding children. To mention only a few, childish beliefs, true courage, and how society works are some of the ways the children mature. Jem and scout have a few childish superstitions that change during the novel . Jem has experiences that change his idea of courage in the novel. His understanding of courage develops to a more mature definition. The court case also shapes Jem and Scout's understanding of how society functions. Through numerous events, Jem and Scout learn about society and prejudice. The first is courage. Jem's view of courage is defined by childish acts. For example, Atticus makes the Radley house off limits to Jem and Scout, but one night, Jem ignores his father's rule and touches the front door of the Radley place and then hurries home. While running, Jem's pants get caught in the fence so he must go back to get them. However, as Jem returns to the fence, he demonstrates courage by going back to such a dangerous place to avoid disappointing his father. As the novel progresses further, Jem observes a ‘mad’ dog down the street. As the story of the dog progresses, Atticus must shoot the dog from a far distance. Jem sees courage as a man with a gun in his hand. One day Jem snaps and cuts off Mrs. Dubose's flowers after she continuously mocked them and called Atticus a nigger lover. As a punishment and in the hopes of making jem understand true courage, Atticus makes Jem go to her house and read to her. During one night, after Mrs. Dubose's death, Atticus explained, "I wanted you to see something about her-I wanted you to see what real courage is,

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