In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does their father's involvement in the Tom Robinson case impact Jem and Scout?

When Atticus takes the Tom Robinson case, both Jem and Scout have to deal with people from the community saying rude and prejudiced comments to them about their father. The rude comments start flying a little more than six months before the trial begins, which is a long time for kids to have to endure such things. Scout starts off easily provoked into fighting when she first hears Cecil Jacobs say her dad "defended ni***s" (74). Atticus tells her he doesn't want her fighting; but it doesn't last long because her cousin Francis says her father is a "ni***r lover" at Christmas time--and she can't let him get away with that (83). As a result, Scout gets bloody knuckles from the fight and a spanking from her Uncle. From then on, she really does her best not to get into fights. However, she also has to watch Jem deal with the same comments and how it impacts him.

The worst that Jem gets while enduring the tedious time before the trial is when Mrs. Dubose pushes him too far. In chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose not only calls Atticus "trash," but she brings up their deceased mother as well (102). Such harsh and condescending words from this woman only echoes those from the community; and when Jem had had enough, he chops off the tops of all her camellia bushes! Scout says "that for a few minutes he simply went mad" (102). Atticus soon found out what Jem did and had him go discuss it with the old woman without Scout. In the end, he had to read with her for a month as penance.

Overall the Finches suffered great verbal persecution as a result of Atticus taking the Tom Robinson case. For the most part, their lives resumed as before; but it was an unforgettable and defining time for both Jem and Scout. They both learned about the hypocrisy behind people who preached "love one another" on Sundays but treated African Americans like second-class citizens every day. They also learned to fight the right fight at the right time and in the right way, as shown in the following passage:

"'Atticus, are we goning to win it?'

'No, honey.'

'Then why--'

'Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,' Atticus said" (76).