Everyone has friends who have acted out of character, who have said or done something that is not like them. When such a person is not acting like himself, we know him and how he or she should behave. A Mockingbird, for instance, defines a creature that does not do any harm or cause pain but gives pleasure, hence Jem’s character. In contrast to other mockingbirds of the story such as Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, Jem takes more time to mature to be a Mockingbird. He grows up in a society full of inequality and unfairness, but he matures through the novel because of the experiences he went through. This paper considers Jem’s psychology as well as the psychological concepts that define his character, including emotional intelligence, behavioral modification, authenticity among other concepts.
Jem finds himself in a tricky situation during Tom Robinsons’ trial as he is approaching puberty, a period of complications and trauma. His washout phase comes, and he realizes that justices are not always given to the deserving, this leaves him confused and unguarded during a formative point of his life. However, he upholds a commitment to see justice through a trait that his father, Atticus, instilled in him. At some point he cannot accept the conviction of the jury; he is ready to abolish the jury as a whole as well as to reconstruct the justice system, and the jury as a whole.
Scout Finch, Jem Finch’s sister and daughter to Atticus narrate the To Kill a Mockingbird. She tells the story of a Caucasian lawyer, Atticus Finch, defending Tom Robinson, a sexually assaulting suspect. Tom is alleged to have raped a poor Caucasian lassie, Mayella Ewell of the Ewell family. The Finch family encounters heavy elucidation for the decision to defend a black man, but Atticus insists on continuing with the case because his conscience could not allow him to do otherwise. He acknowledges that Tom is innocent and that he has no chance of having justice served to him fairly because the Caucasian jury would not consent to a person of color to win a case over a Caucasian woman.
Unlike Mr. Raymond, Jem is optimistic. Atticus reassures Scout that Jem desires time to meditate on what he has learned. Jem is a representation of bravery in the novel. The presence of Atticus, Jem’s father, also plays a very crucial role on Jem’s life, he learns about bravery from his encounter with the ‘mad dog,’ where he saves the neighborhood by shooting Tim Johnson, the rabid dog. He adamantly wants to emulate his father as well as intends to follow him to study law. He would rather incur injuries than displease his father (Hazra 118). He takes on to pursue what is moral even when his choice is not agreed on by the mainstream.
Bravery motivates Jem. At ten years of age, Jem begins puberty, in the story he slowly develops the intuition to comprehend many of the situations that his family faces. He wants to be viewed as an adult-like individual; he aspires people to take confidence in him and his actions. When he accidentally forgets his trousers on Radley’s porch, he goes back on the same day to collect them, and his sister is worried that he might get killed and advises him that it's better for him to get punished than going back. Jem defends his decision by saying that his father whipped me as far as he can remember and he would like o keep it away (Hazra 89). Jem is not concerned with Atticus spanking him rather he does not want to disappoint his father.
He wants to be viewed as a grown up and responsible thus he acts in a brave way which is a mature attitude as the book. He fences at night and his father’s opinions are of significance. As a mature young adult, he begins to prioritize values (Hazra 89). When Dill run away from his home, he ends up in Scout’s bedroom. His actions forced Jem to say the Drill ought to tell his mother where he is in Scout’s place. He goes ahead and tell his father about the whole narrative despite of the consequences.
When the trial flops, he becomes angry and disappointed by the peoples and justice system inadequacy to administer justice; he vows to take down the entire judicial system. Jem continues to act maturely through the rest of the book, and at a different time he acts more of an adult and stands up for his sister and protects his father. He grows up and apart from his sister and also outgrows her, her sister Scout understands him less and less.
Psychology of Jem
At the commencement of the summer, Jem is a youngster who enjoys exploring and satisfying his curiosity about Radley’s solitude. He makes up fake stories about him and plays games to back up his stories, but slowly he starts to realize that he is not the beast that Scout and Dill made him be in their summer games. Locating dolls among other gifts in the woods caused him to understand his softness ( Digital Choice 44). When his father loses a trial, Jem is hurt and loses trust in the goodness of the law. As he continues to grow , he protects his sister as he takes her to school performance, holds her hand during the nights, and fights for her safety. In the end, he becomes a man ready to undertake some of his father’s responsibilities.
Jem leaves his childhood(which he shared with scout and Dill) and becomes a young mature man. In the beginning, Jem was playful and outgoing youngster, together with his sister and Dill, they played and participated in various unreasonable dares. At some point, they build a snowman and also takes part in role-playing, he fears his father anger when he sneaks into Boo’s property and loses his pants. However, when the trial failed, he loses his innocence, he is exposed to the inhumane nature of the Maycomb society, this is why he gets so mad at Scout when she brings up the trial subject up again. Unlike Scout, when his father shoots the ‘ mad dog’, he does not want to spread the incident to everybody. He makes some comments that point out him desiring to be a man like Atticus.
Behavior Modification
Behavioral change or modification is the belief that people can change their behavior and actions as long as they are provided with the environment to do so, it mainly focuses on stopping negative behavior. At the beginning of the book, Jem constantly argues with Scout and commands her around. They have a normal brother-sister relationship, but due to Jem’s bossing behavior they always argue. (Lee 10) Despite this Jem still cares about her sister and spends time with her. Scout admires his brother, and she believes in his words according to Boo Radley. As Jem grows up, he becomes more distant from her sister and spends more time with Dill instead (Bolan 27). Scout dislikes that Jem spends more time with Dill and this forces her to spend time with Miss Maudie. While Jem matures, he becomes authoritative to Scout and views her as an ignorant child. Jem regards that he knows more than Scout and tries to treat her like she is weak. Although he is growing, he still reasons like a child, this is seen in the way that he treats her sister.
However, after the Tom Robinson trial, Jem loses his innocence and infancy and begins to have compassion for others. He becomes a lot more understanding and views himself as a protector and guider for her little sister; he becomes more of his father, a morally-upright individual, he gives her sister a feeling of warmth when she gets upset and comforts her. Jem stops Scout from getting into an argument with Aunt Alexandra and also attempts to explain the Maycomb’s trial to Scout. He volunteers to walk scout to the Halloween festival; he protects her from Bob Ewell attack. The more Jem matures he treats Scout better and exercises compassion towards Scout; this displays his maturity and progress as a young man.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence also referred to as empathy, is the ability to know one's emotions and manage your own emotions and that of others. It involves three skills, awareness to one's emotions, ability to apply them to tasks such as solving problems and critical thinking as well as the ability to manage the emotions by elevating the good emotions or rather not allowing the negative emotions take over. This is seen through both Jem and Scout as they encounter Walter Cunningham and Mrs. Dubose, Jem can “….climb into their skin and walk around in it” (Parks 31). Jem understands the situation of other characters and what they might be thinking as well or how they may act. Jem does this because he understands the pain that Walter and his family undergo every day, to make up for what Scout did to him, he invites him over for dinner because of he is aware how lucky it is for Walter to get a good meal a day.
In a display of anger, Jem smashes Mrs. Dubose’s flowers, which he later had to compensate for by reading to her. Scout had to follow along for moral support. After her death from addiction, Jem felt empathy for her suffering and desired that she dies happy and free although she hated almost everything about her. The empathy impacted on them by Mrs. Dubose and Walter Cunningham allows both Jem and Scout to grow maturely, it enables Jem to grow in an Atticus-like way.
Authenticity
Jem’s is an authentic character in that he partakes in the normal growth of a person from being a child with childlike behaviors to becoming an adult who can make decisions and can reason. He is authentic and real. As explained earlier in the text, Jem used to play with Dill and Scout, and engage in foolish and childish activities like an ordinary child. Later when the trials fail, he is disappointed in the judicial systems and loses his innocence through wanting to fight the justice system (Katz 44). He is not afraid of his thoughts being heard and believes in the decision he makes whether they are unpopular or not provided they are right. He changes his social circle as he grows older and more maturely; this is seen when he spends less time with his naïve sister, he asks Dill to let her mother know where he is after running away from home. He becomes more mature(being able to act, think and speak your feelings concerning dignity) and can take part in the society’s activities, through interaction with racial discrimination of Maycomb, he is aware of what his society is like and builds a strong personality to overcome the barriers placed in the society
Conclusion
Jem plays a very important role in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; he is an interesting character to look into while examining the psychology of characters. He is a representation of growth, bravery, courage, and idealism through his actions and decisions in the book. He is a likable person as depicted by her sister who found him appealing as a person. He brings up the subject of maturity in a rather clear and interesting way that is easy and relatable to the reader, through him we can see how society affects the development of children and their personality. He also reveals the evils.
Works Cited
Boland, John. “Mocking Bird Sequel Very Much a Product of Its Time.” Belfast Telegraph, vol. 26, 2015, pp. 26–26.
Digital Choice. “Digital Choice.” The Daily Telegraph, vol. 46, 2010, pp. 46–46.
Hazra, Nirupam. "To Kill a Mocking Bird." Social Work Chronicle 2.1/2 (2013): 129.
Katz, Claudia Anne, and Sue Ann Kuby. “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Book Links, vol. 10, no. 5, 2001, pp. 44–44.
Lee, Danny. “A Drama with Enduring Appeal.” The Times, vol. 10, 2004, pp. 10–10.
Parks, Andy. “The Second Coming of Harper Lee.” The Northern Star, vol. 6, 2015, pp. 6–6.
Smith, Ross A. “Harper Lee Opened My Eyes to Racism.” The Ottawa Citizen, vol. A15, 2005, pp. 15-24.
