Jem is struggling with several forces at work in his life
here. First off, he was getting pretty excited about the newly formed relationship the
kids were having with the giver of the gifts. This was especially significant to Jem
when the giver hand carved soap dolls to be spitting images of the kids. I think this
made Jem feel pretty special to be so specifically focused on. Secondly, Jem is getting
older. He used details to uncover a truth about all adults: they lie. This becomes
important much later, but here Jem caught Mr. Nathan Radley lying to him. Atticus
defends the lie, but it doesn't seem to sit well with Jem and a significant growing pain
occurs for Jem. Jem also looks up to his dad. To think it is possible his dad is
covering something up may be significantly effecting him
too.
An even simpler answer is to look at Jem's changing
age. Getting on in years, Jem is 11 or 12 and beginning puberty. No matter what the
gender of an individual, those are emotional years.
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