Jeremy Finch, also known as Jem in little Maycomb County is a boy who finds out the troubles of the world at a young age. He learns about racism, especially at Tom Robinsons' trial, right around when he is going into puberty when life is complicated and traumatic enough. Also, Jem stood up for his family when Mrs. Dubose was talking bad about them, he still read to her to show his that he was sorry for what he had done. When Jem finished reading to Mrs. Dubose, he would find out that she had lots of courage to try and quit her addiction. Jems’ father Atticus always answered the questions that Scout and Jem would ask him and he would give them the answer without sugar coating it so they knew what the world was a little about. By the end of the novel, Jem was becoming more grown up yet he still protected and looked after his sister Scout.
At the beginning of the book Jem was acting like a regular little kid but grew up a lot after reading to Mrs. Dubose. He dragged having to read to her at first because he was still furious with her and didn’t regret that he had cut off her flower buds from her bushes. By the end of the month he didn’t mind anymore but was happy he didn’t have to read to her anymore until Atticus made him continue reading to her every day. Just after a little while longer though, Mrs. Dubose passed away and Jem learned the truth behind the reason why he had to leave when she started acting up. She had been in pain and was suffering but she had been putting up with it so she could try to overcome her morphine addiction. When Jem found out about what she had been fighting against so that she could die free “as the mountain air” (111), this showed him what courage and strength really was.
Some parents won’t tell their young kids everything that is happening out in the world because they think that their too young to need to know about that but that’s not the case with Atticus Finch. He answers his children’s questions with the full truth so they’re not in the dark when their older. When Jem had been watching Mr. Robinson’s trial for hours anxious to hear what the jury was going to agree on and then figures out that Jem the jury had convicted him guilty through Jem in a very confused and angry manner. He learned that there was more racism than ever and that it isn’t right to be criticizing people because of their color. When Jem refuses to allow Scout to squash a roly-poly bug because it has done nothing to harm her shows that after he saw the unfair destruction of Mr. Robinson, he wants to protect the harmless and fragile.
During the time in the book, Jem had started going through puberty and during this time he did shove Scout off to the side because he didn’t always want to be around her like they used to be, he was starting to show his growing independence. Even though they weren’t always with each other now, Jem still looked out for his sister to make sure she was okay. An example is when Jem literally was risking his life to try and make that Scout wouldn’t get hurt when they were getting attacked by Bob Ewell. When Mr. Ewell attacked them, Jem could have ran away to try and get help but he stayed and attacked the darkness in hope of helping make sure that nothing happened to Scout. In the end, Scout was the one who was fine while Jem had gotten a broken arm and a concussion.
In just a year, Jem grew up a lot and learned how the world was so far from equality. Also, he learned what courage and strength really was, even if he hadn’t known it until it was after the death Mrs. Dubose. After that he started going through puberty and wanted to show how he was growing up and have his own independence. At the beginning of the book Jem was just a little kid but by the end he was a young man.
