Complex Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, there are a lot of complex characters. A complex character is a character that changes throughout the story. Jem Finch, one of the main characters, starts out being an adventurous and playful little boy but changes into an intelligent young man. Some of the attributes that Jem shows throughout the story are daring, wise, and protective. When Jem was about 10, he was very daring. Wanting everyone “to know once and for all that he wasn’t scared of anything” (Lee, 17), he never turned down a dare. One day, Dill, a young boy who visits Maycomb for the summer, dared Jem to touch the Radley house. Frightened of the Radley place because of all the stories that were told about it, everyone stayed as far …show more content…
He comprehends that everything and everyone weren’t innocent and perfect. He realizes that things happened, and you couldn’t always explain why. He understands that people don’t always do the right thing. After the trial of Tom Robinson, a Negro, Jem said, “Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time…it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee, 304). This shows us that Jem is grasping the more complicated things in life like segregation. In the last few chapters of the book, we see that Jem is brave and protective over his sister. He will do anything to defend Scout. Leaving the schoolyard after the play, Scout and Jem were attacked by Bob Ewell, the white man that accused Tom Robinson of rape. Scout remembers that they “were nearly to the road when I felt Jem’s hand leave me, felt him jerk backwards to the ground. More scuffling, and there came a dull crunching sound and Jem screamed” (Lee, 351). Fighting Bob Ewell, Jem saved his sister, even though he got hurt in the end. He could have abandoned her, but he saved her instead. Along with the adjectives daring, wise, and protective, Jem Finch has many other great attributes. Jem is a very complex character. He starts out being a daring little boy but becomes wiser as he grows up. In the end, he becomes a brave young man, not like the daring little boy he was. I have had fun seeing him change throughout the story into who he is
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