Jem comes to realise that in the society a predominant theme is racism and that everyone seems to think that if the person is a different tone from white then they are not a person and therefore should be treated as animals. However atticus believes otherwise and chooses to stick up for the darker skin tone even though he could get in trouble. I think this gives the ethnic minority in the novel a sense of hope because even though they are not White atticus still decided to help them in the lawsuit. In the book it is clear that Jem sees how cruel the society is, an example of this is in chapter 23 where Jem says “I think I’m beginning to understand why boo radleys stayed shut in his house all the time … It’s because he wants to stay inside”. the reason why he wants to stay inside is because he does not want to face the reality of the society they live in, so he stays in to avoid discrimination.!