Jem Finch is one of the most important and complex characters in the novel. Over the course of the story his behavior and his relationship with his sister, Scout, change dramatically. In the story To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, a trial tears apart a town and the Finches are caught right in the middle of it. This event and other small occurrences that take place in this novel, forever change Jem. He is suddenly introduced into the adult world and it changes the way he and Scout act towards each other. Jem and Scout's relationship changes, as Jem becomes too wise for her, suddenly much more mature, and begins to resemble their father, Atticus.
             At several points in this book it is very evident that Jem has become a lot smarter as he gets older. At the beginning of the story, several instances show that Jem thought and acted like a child. The greatest evidence of Jem's child-like acts comes when he, Scout, and Dill are playing games with Boo Radley. Jem says, "You're too scared to even put your big toe in the front yard." Although seemingly irrelevant, this quote does show how childish Jem is. At this point in the novel Jem and Scout are at about the same intellectual stage. However, things change as Jem starts to hit puberty. He begins to act differently, as well as think and speak differently. When Scout says, "Reckon he's got a tapeworm" to Atticus about Jem's odd behavior, it is the turning point intellectually between Jem and Scout. Scout is too young to realize that Jem is going through puberty. Jem has gotten smarter all of a sudden, while Scout has not, and she does not understand it. Another example of the separation that is beginning to be seen between Jem and Scout is showed when Jem says, "I've just got this feeling, just this feeling." Jem was speaking about a feeling he had that something was wrong and Atticus was in serious dan...