Answer:
Methods of characterization become even more important when the author needs to show a character's growth. Let's take a look at Atticus' son, Jem Finch. Jem grows from a game-playing child to a mature teenager questioning and struggling with the hypocrisies of the adults around him. His actions and words show the evolution of his maturity.
At first, Jem perpetuates the rumors and superstitions surrounding the Radley household:
Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained - if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off.
In telling Atticus that Dill has run away from home, Jem shows the ability to weigh the consequences of a secret:
Dill's eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. 'Atticus,' his voice was distant, 'can you come here a minute, sir?' [...] Jem was standing in a corner of the room, looking like the traitor he was. 'Dill, I had to tell him,' he said. 'You can't run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin'.
Finally, Jem shows maturity in critically thinking about the underbelly of prejudice:
If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside.
Explanation:
