Siblings in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay Example

“Hardship brings people closer together if you share it” - John Wooden an American basketball coach.In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are two children, Jem, the older brother, and Scout, the little sister. Two kids grew up in Alabama during the Great Depression and had many adventures together, playing and doing the typical childhood things like my childhood. Still, they experienced some horrible things in their childhood which I have yet not. They are an example of when siblings go through traumatic experiences, they become closer together, and I think that even though I am close to my brothers, I don't think we are as close as Jem and Scout.

"Wisdom comes with age" - Oscar Wilde, an Irish poet, and playwright. Jem is the older, wiser brother to Scout. At the beginning of the book, Scout is six, and Jem is ten years old, and they lost their mother to a heart attack and were raised by their father and their maid. Jem is older and more mature and tries to show his sister the ropes. I am the youngest of three boys, and this is also the case with my two older brothers (Josh, five years older, and Jordan, seven years older). My brothers have given me precious advice growing up, like showing me how not to upset my parents. 

I think Jem's strong emphasis on caring for Scout is likely part of their mother's absence. Jem takes on a parental role as well as a sibling. Jem is quite protective of his little sister. Jem will put Scout's safety before his own. When Jem and Scout were walking home one night after a Halloween pageant, they got attacked by Bob Ewell. Jem says, "Run, Scout! Run! Run! (261).” He wants to protect her. However, Jem is older and would defend when necessary Scout also will take on caring for her older brother. 

An example of this is when Scout says, "I had spent most of the day climbing up and down, running errands for him…(32)." Scout spent the whole day getting things for her brother, showing how she also takes care of her brother. They both take care of each other throughout the story and culminate when Jem saves Scout from the violent Bob Ewell at the end of the book. On the other hand, my childhood was the complete opposite because it was ninety years in the future, and there is more supervision and protection of children nowadays. My family situation was quite different than theirs as I had both my parents. My brothers rarely had to take care of me and were never put into a position where they needed to protect me.

Even though Jem desires to protect his sister, he struggles with the need to help care for her but does not want to look like he is hanging around with a little girl. On Scout's first day of school, Jem walks Scout to school but lets her know that "In short; I was to leave him alone, (16)." at school. As Jem gets older, he wants to be more independent and not be associated with an embarrassing little sister following him around. Jem first shows this sign of exerting some separation on Scout's first day of school when he tells Scout to give him some space. I noticed the same thing with my older brothers when I was ten, and they were sixteen and eighteen. I wanted to hang out with them, especially when they had friends around. I recall wanting to go out on the boat with Josh and his friends; he wanted me to leave them alone and said, "go hang out with your friends." I know now that he just wanted a little space and freedom, but at the time it made me feel sad and left out sitting all alone on the dock waiting for them to come back.

In the book, they lost their childhood innocence as they watched the Tom Robinson trial. Before their eyes, they saw a trial showing violence and rape followed by a man being charged with a crime that he never committed. Their father was a lawyer; he defended Tom Robinson a balck man and became associated with the trial. I have had nothing to this degree happen in my life, but I see the world differently over the past twenty months and appreciate school now that I have spent months learning, sitting at my desk staring at my computer screen in my basement bedroom. By COVID pushing us apart, it made me closer to my brothers. We all were sent home from our schools, and we were able to spend some time together and talk in the hot tub teasing each other. We were in a position to be still able to work, and our family restaurant was still open for take-out. Along with my aunt and father, the three of us would work in the evenings making and delivering Italian food. This time spent together brought us closer as we were not able to be with our friends like we used to.  

Brothers and sisters mess around and fight all the time, but they almost always get over it quickly. Jem and Scout mess with each other, playing tricks and fighting like brothers and sisters, and that is exactly like my relationship with my brothers; even though we fight, play pranks on each other, and say some colorful words, we still love each other and will still help each other out and do nice things for the other. 

They are an example of when siblings go through traumatic experiences, they become closer together, and I think that even though I am close to my brothers, I don't think we are as close as Jem and Scout. The relationship with my brothers is far more different than Jem and Scout's. Their bond was much more intimate because of all the traumatic experiences, and they depended on each other to get through these.