Jem is older than Scout and finds his life shattered during his experience with the Tom Robinson trial. This experience comes as Jem is entering puberty and leaves him feeling confused and disillusioned.

Jem becomes despondent and depressed when he discovers that justice does not prevail.

He feels vulnerable and confused. He tries to uphold the commitment to justice that Atticus taught he and this remains throughout the novel.

Jem is not without hope unlike My Raymond. Atticus reassures Jem and assures him that he has to learn from what has happened.

Atticus’s prominence in Jem’s life seems to hold a promise of recovery for Jem. Towards the end of the novel Jem begins to show that he has learnt a positive lesson from the trial. We see this in chapter 25 when he refuses to let Scout squash a roly poly bug as it has done no harm. Jem now wants to protect the fragile and harmless after witnessing the unfair treatment of Tom Robinson.

Jem resolution of his cynicism and his movement towards a happy life is supported at the beginning of the novel when Scout recalls that Jem’s initial interest in Boo Radley strongly represented his ability to shed innocence without loosing hope.