At this point in To Kill a Mockingbird, tensions in the Finch family have reached absolutely critical levels. Atticus has received a bad reputation due to his spirited defense of Tom Robinson, and it begins to affect the way that citizens of Maycomb treat Jem and Scout. Scout, still being very young, finds aimless outlets for her pent-up aggression. One such way is being deliberately antagonistic toward her aunt. When she is sent to her room for this, Jem, who is coping with the stress by attempting to act as what he perceives to be as mature as possible, threatens to spank Scout. This is the breaking point for the tension between them, and the two begin to engage in an all-out fistfight. Scout's breaking point here is caused by the threat because as Jem matures, Scout begins to feel distant from him. She feels young and inferior, and when Jem threatens to take such an adult liberty such as punishing her physically, it is more than she can bear.
In chapter 14, Scout sasses Aunt Alexandra and is sent to her room, where Jem attempts to calm his sister by telling her not to antagonize their aunt. Jem then informs Scout that Atticus has been stressed out lately because of the upcoming Tom Robinson trial. When Scout mentions that her father doesn't seem stressed, Jem accidentally insults her by saying that she cannot understand certain things—she is not old enough. Scout responds by saying, "Jee crawling hova, Jem! Who do you think you are?" (Lee, 139) Jem then threatens to spank Scout, and she ends up punching him directly in the mouth. Jem responds by defending himself and fights back. The two siblings begin wrestling on the floor, and Scout starts to throw wild punches at her brother. Atticus ends up stopping the brawl, and the two siblings forget about their fight once Dill Harris crawls out from underneath the bed.
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