How Does Jem Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

  1. IPL>
  2. How Does Jem Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird
right-arrowbulb-icon
Wait a second!

More handpicked essays just for you.

close-icon

Examples of jems innocence in the beginning of to kill a mockingbird

Read ESSAY 1

How does to kill a mockingbird show innocence

Read ESSAY 2

How does to kill a mockingbird show innocence

Read ESSAY 3shield-img

Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.

Start your $7 for 7 days trial now!search-imgsearch-imgFIND MY ESSAYHow Does Jem Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird563 Words3 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Jem finds out Tom Robinson is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell his innocence is corrupted because he always believed the people of Maycomb would do the right thing, but when the jury presiding over Tom’s case does not do what he expected Jem realizes the sadness of life. This novel is told from the perspective of Scout Finch, a six year old girl, and it takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Towards the end of the book Scout and her brother Jem are fascinated by their father Atticus’s court case in which he is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who is on trial for his life after being wrongly accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. When Scout and Jem are watching the trial …show more content…

I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like” (288). In this passage Jem compares not knowing of the racism in Maycomb to being a “caterpillar in a cocoon”—Jem has been sheltered from the harsh reality of life in his hometown all throughout his childhood. Moreover, Jem compares his previous innocence to being “asleep wrapped up in a warm place”, which shows how he thinks his ignorance was bliss. Warm has a positive connotation, and sleeping in a warm place may refer to being ignorant in a blissful place. Lastly, Jem uses past tense words like “thought” and “seemed” to show how he no longer thinks favorably of Maycomb’s citizens; Jem’s innocence of believing people in Maycomb are “the best folks in the world” has been corrupted through Tom Robinson’s conviction. Before the verdict of Tom’s trial had been decided Jem was sure that Atticus was going to win the case because he was too innocent to suspect racism in Maycomb, but after the trial Jem loses faith in the people who live in his town and replaces his innocence with

Show MoreRelated

Examples Of Tom Robinson A Fair Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

727 Words | 3 Pages

Tom Robinson would have lived if it were not for the citizens of Maycomb. This situation is shown by the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. Tom was charged with raping a 19-year-old woman named Mayella Ewell. Through this trial, the different social standings of white and colored people make themselves known. Tom was given an unfair trial simply due to people’s beliefs that they are unwilling to change.

Read More

How Does Jem Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

811 Words | 4 Pages

After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.

Read More

Essay On Tom Robinson Trial To Kill A Mockingbird

885 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.

Read More

Examples Of Foreshadowing In To Kill A Mockingbird

864 Words | 4 Pages

“Well, it’d sort of be like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee. Based during the Great Depression, this novel follows the point of view of six-year-old Scout Finch, the daughter of a white lawyer, Atticus Finch, who defends a black man, Tom Robinson, for raping a white woman because it was the right thing to do. Scout lives with her brother, Jem, her father, and Calpurnia, who practically raises the kids. Scout and Jem are kept up-to-date on their father’s case, and they face the backlash and grief as Tom is wrongfully charged as guilty.

Read More

Scout Finch Coming Of Age Analysis

503 Words | 3 Pages

After Tom Robinson’s verdict was guilty, Jem started to throw a fit because he knew that everyone knew Tom was innocent but didn’t understand that white men basically always won in court. He realized with his age that everyone says people are equal but that’s false. Through Jem’s life lesson, he loses his innocence by him seeing the world for how it truly is and not a perfect as he thought it was when he was a kid. This loss of innocence shows coming of age as Jem is now aware of the world around.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird How Has Jem Changed

844 Words | 4 Pages

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about two kids, Jem and Scout, and their childhood in their small town Maycomb, Alabama. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were two innocent kids playing in the summer sun, until school came along. Jem was about twelve throughout the novel and Scout was eight, and considering that Jem was twelve in the novel, he was changing. During the middle of the novel a rape trial occurred, which included a black man being accused by a white woman of first-degree rape. Atticus, the kid’s father was defending the african american man; Tom Robinson.

Read More

Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1045 Words | 5 Pages

After hours of waiting, the jury came back in. Scout explains how “A jury never looks at the defendant if it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson… Judge Taylor was polling the jury; ‘ Guilty...Guilty...Guilty’”(211) When Scout and Jem hear the verdict, they are distraught. As they were walking home, “It was Jem’s turn to cry.. ‘It’s not right, Atticus’”(212)

Read More

How Do People Shape Children In To Kill A Mockingbird

743 Words | 3 Pages

Jem grows up sheltered from the evil in the world. Once the trial comes around, however, he learns out imperfect the world is through the racism and prejudice, and he struggles to come to terms with this realization. After the trial he tells Miss Maudie, who is their neighbor, how it feels like “bein’ a caterpillar in a cocoon… Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world least that’s what they seemed like” (Lee 288). Miss Maudie then tries to comfort Jem, but it still shows that Jem has been changed because his childhood view of Maycomb being perfect has been shattered.

Read More

How Is Boo Radley Portrayed In To Kill A Mockingbird

822 Words | 4 Pages

Jem, a young and smart boy develops and matures through many unique situations in the novel. Jem is exposed to the harsh belief, judgement and circumstances of the court at a very young age. Following his father, Jem involves himself in the trial between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell yet takes Tom’s side due to his father's involvement. Jem slowly loses faith in the justice system and is faced with a loss of innocence as explained by Scout“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay

976 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Racial equality and discrimination is a founding issue that has been spread throughout every part of the world, To Kill A Mockingbird was written and published by Harper Lee in 1960, this time was dominated by civil rights protests and some of the first hippie movements following the crushing reality of the Vietnam War, the 60s also saw the struggle against segregation and racial equality. It is no surprise that the extreme political conflict affecting her life and world would greatly impact her writing and influence how she perceived the world during the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. the influence of the fight for racial inequality is shown greatly in her book as she depicts the everyday life

Read More

Literary Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

915 Words | 4 Pages

Option 2 Literary Analysis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being

Read More

Theme Of Bully In To Kill A Mockingbird

830 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

Read More

Argumentative Essay On To Kill A Mockingbird

508 Words | 3 Pages

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set sometime in the 1930s in Maycomb County Alabama. The story is told through the point of view of Scout Finch who lives with her father, Atticus, and brother, Jem. The kids like to play pretend with their friend Dill about the man who lives in a scary house down the road, Boo Radley. The kids come in a few close counters along the way during these games in which Atticus does not approve. Scouts’ father, a lawyer, is appointed by Judge Taylor to defend Mr. Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young girl.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Theme Essay

715 Words | 3 Pages

"Like something ' asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that 's what they seemed like." this evidence shows that Jem before the trial saw everyone is good but after all the persecution his family got during the Tom Robinson trial he is forced to look at the people of Maycomb as what they truly are and not all of them are good like he thought. Although Jem does not physically die the child inside of him does.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis

1037 Words | 5 Pages

Even though Scout displayed innocence but still was excluded from games with Dill and Jem because of her gender, Harper Lee did not intend for her to be perceived as a Mockingbird. On the contrary, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are portrayed as mockingbirds, birds recognized for their innocence but also targeted. Body Paragraph #1 Topic Sentence #1: Tom Robinson, a black man convicted of rape, was an example of à Mockingbird because he was targeted even though he was innocent. Integrated Evidence #1: After the town of Maycomb found out about the tragic killing of Tom Robinson, “[Mr. Underwood] likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children”(Lee 323) in an editorial. Analysis 1: Tom Robinson was wrongfully accused of raping Mayella Ewell.

Read More

More about How Does Jem Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Harper Lee
  • Truman Capote
  • Atticus Finch
  • Black people
  • White people
Open Document

Tag » How Is Jem A Mockingbird