Theme Of Jem Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Jennifer Alcaraz April 30, 2015 Period 5th To Kill a Mockingbird “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Page 39). To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about two children growing up in a county name Maycomb. Through this novel both Jem and Scout go through many phases of coming of age moments. To come of age is when someone mentally matures and their perspective changes. Jem comes of age when he tells Scout to stop messing with the roly-poly, when he tells Scout to not say anything about Atticus having the deadest shot in Maycomb, and when he refuses to go home. One of Jem’s coming of age moment is when he explains to Scout about not harming…show more content…
As Scout was watching her dad intensely shooting the dog, she was surprised, and so was Jem, Scout wanted to tell everyone at school that her dad had the deadest shot in Maycomb. “’Don’t say anything about it, Scout’ he said. ‘What I certainly am. Ain’t everybody’s daddy the deadest shot in Maycomb County.’ Jem said, ‘I reckon if he’d wanted us to know it, he’da told us. If he was proud of it, he’da told us’” (Page 130). This is a coming of age moment for Jem because he understands that Atticus does not want people to know that he has the deadest shot in Maycomb, and he respects his privacy. I’ve experienced a similar coming of age moment like Jem’s. When my friend tells me a secret, she trusts me to respect her privacy and not tell others about it. My coming of age moment was similar to Jem’s coming of age moment, because we both learned that people don’t let everyone know everything about them because they want their…show more content…
For example not to harm or bother things that don’t bother us, respect someone’s privacy, refusing to do something for someone’s good. Jem learned that people should not harm or bother things that aren’t bothering them. This was a lesson I also learned, because harming or bother things won’t do me any good especially if they are not doing anything to me. Jem had learned that people don’t say a lot about them because they want to have privacy. Refusing to do something in order to help someone for their own good even though they tell you to do otherwise. I recommend reading this book. It does not only tell a story, but it also has lessons’ that people can learn
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