Examples Of Jem Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

The transition period between being a child and being an adult is often called the process of coming of age. Coming of age involves maturing and honing new skills, such as learning how to drive or how to care for children. An important skill that most people learn through this transition is the ability to empathize with others, or, as it is commonly put, standing in another’s shoes. For some, this skill is learned through experience. For others, it takes a wise and patient parent to help them fully understand. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, main character Scout comes of age when her father, Atticus, teaches her to see things from the point of view of others. Atticus teaches the main character, Scout, to see things from the point of view of others, and Scout uses this ability to understand the people
On the last day of summer, Jem and Dill decide to peek through the windows of the Radley home, and Scout reluctantly agrees to go along with them. They are soon heard by Nathan Radley, and nearly shot while creeping through the collard patch. During the escape, Jem gets his pants caught on the wire fence, and has no choice but to remove them. He claims he would much rather retrieve his pants than get in trouble with Atticus, saying, “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way.” (Lee 63) Jem is able to retrieve his pants on the following day, but is gloomy for the entire week. Scout does not understand Jem’s silence, but says, “…I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon.”(Lee 56). Though Jem refuses to tell Scout what happened on that early morning, Scout is able to consider her brother’s feelings, and soon understands why his behavior was so different that