When Harper Lee sat down to write a novel, she most likely had not realized what a masterpiece it would become. Now, critics celebrate To Kill a Mockingbird as one of the greatest novels of English print culture. The book's subtle blend of different themes of life gives a sense of beauty to the writing, and among those themes, one stands out: the maturation of children. Maturation has many meanings to different people, but it generally concerns one's psychological growth and ability to grasp concepts and ideas previously not conceivable to their childish minds. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the main characters, namely Jeremy Atticus Finch (also known as Jem), achieves a much higher level of maturity as the story progresses. Jem shows a drastic increase in maturity when he learns humbleness, understands the true meaning of courage and most importantly, learns to assume responsibility for himself and others. His childish misconceptions soon disappear as he grows to become a man.
Along the path to maturation, Jem first encounters the lesson of humility. Previously, he and his sister had felt the need to brag about almost anything they could. However, a certain incident involving a dog with problems changes all that for Jem. When a rabid dog begins wandering the streets of Maycomb, Atticus pulls out his long unused skills with a gun and kills the dog with one well-placed bullet. Normally Jem and Scout would boast about this, but Jem's first signs of maturation show through when he understands that Atticus does not hold his shooting skills in high regard. This teaches Jem the value of humbleness and allows him to understand that not always must one boast about his talents. Also, Jem says to his somewhat less mature sister, "I reckon if he"d wanted us to know, he"da told us. If he was proud of it, he"da told us" (103). This clearly proves that Jem understands the importance of humbleness to both his father and in general.