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"...Jem had his little sister to think of the time I dared him to jump off the top of the house: 'If I got killed, what'd become of you?' Then he jumped, landed unhurt, and his sense of responsibility left him until confronted by the Radley Place" (Lee 17).
"When I asked Jem what entailment was, and Jem described it as a condition of having your tail in a crack, I asked Atticus if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay us" (Lee 27).
"...Miss Scout, if you give me your attention, I'll tell you what entailment is. Jem's definitions are very nearly accurately sometimes" (29).
"Jem decided there was no point in quibbling, and was silent. When Atticus went inside the house to retrieve afile he had forgotten to take to work that morning, Jem finally realized that he had been done in by the oldest lawyer's trick on record. He waited a respectful distance from the front steps, watched Atticus leave the house and walk toward town. When Atticus was out of earshot Jem yelled after him: 'I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I ain't so sure now!'" (Lee 66).
"Jem suddenly grinned at him. 'Come home to dinner with us, Walter,' he said. 'We'd be glad to have you.'
Walter's face brightened, then darkened.
Jem said, 'Our daddy's a friend of your daddy's. Scout here, she's crazy - she won't fight you no more.'" (Lee 30-31).
"Dill was a villain's villain... Jem was a born hero" (Lee 52).
"The three of us were the boys who got into trouble; I was the probate judge, for a change; Dill led Jem away and crammed him beneath the steps, poking him with the brush-broom. Jem would reappear as needed in the shapes of the sheriff, assorted townsfolk and Miss Stephanie Crawford, who had more to say about the Radleys than anybody in Maycomb" (52-53).
Proud and Determined
"'It's not like he'd never speak to you again or somethin' . . . I'm gonna wake him up, Jem, I swear I am - '
Jem grabbed my pajama collar and wrenched it tight. 'Then I'm goin' with you -' I choked" (Lee 75).
Quester-Questioner
“He’s just gone over the evidence,” Jem whispered, “and we’re gonna win, Scout. I don’t see how we can’t. He’s been at it ‘bout five minutes. He made it as plain and easy as—well, as I’da explained it to you. You could’ve understood it, even" (Lee 206).
For Jem, the greatest defeat is that his innocence and faith that the right side will prevail takes a damaging hit at the trial. He has listened to Atticus's lessons, and he sees now way that they can fail - even a child could understand it.
Until they do fail...
"'She's supposed to go around in back,' I said.
"Jem shook his head, 'Don't make any difference now,' he said" (Lee 124).
Circle-Maker
"'A lady?' Jem raised his head. His face was scarlet. After all those things she said about you, a lady?'
"'She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different than mine, maybe . . . son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand...'" (149).
"'Dear sir,' said Jem. 'We appreciate the - no, we appreciate everything which you have put into the tree for us. Yours very truly, Jeremy Atticus Finch'" (Lee 82).
"Jem was suddenly furious. He leaped off the bed, grabbed me by the collar and shook me. "I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, you hear me? You hear me? Don't you ever say one word to me about it again, you hear? Now go on!" (Lee 331).
Jem has come to the place that he understand the law (the courthouse) cannot reflect what he deems to be just. He is from Maycomb, but he is not of it. He is the "becoming" of his community, and he knows that to become something better, he must look beyond what is now the status quo.