Compare And Contrast Mrs. Dubose And Mrs. Dubose

Ms.Dubose was an old lady down the block from Jem and Scout, that would shout out malicious things to them about themselves and their family. One example of Jem being childish and acting immature is, that when Ms.Dubose said Atticus was “lawing for a n******” he teared up her precious camellias. This shows how he was immature and couldn't control his actions and made a rash decision when faced with rude comments. Following this destruction, Jem’s punishment is to read every day, including Saturdays, for two hours at Mrs. Dubose’s house. Which he loathes doing because she is a senile old women, who makes rude remarks every time he comes over. At the end of the chapter, Atticus reveals to Jem that she was addicted to morphine and that the reading was part of her effort to wean off of her addiction. Jem receives a gift from Ms.Dubose which is a single camellia. This revels Jem feels surprised, guilty, and saddened when he sees her gift. The camellia was a reminder for the reasons he spent time with Mrs. Dubose, but it was also was a sign for him to remember her by. Atticus teaches Jem a very important lesson that not all heroes use guns and weapons, but have the real courage and strength to fight for what they want to get. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. We finally see when Jem starts to grow up and give things thought when “He picked up the camellia…I saw him fingering the white petals” This shows how Jem has empathy for Ms.Dubose and realizes that she was fighting and had admiration for her. Jem matures and shows how he can be understanding about

Atticus considers Mrs. Dubose to be one of the most courageous people he has ever met. The children see her as the old neighbour lady who never has anything nice to say. Atticus explains to the children that Mrs. Dubose is a struggling morphine addict and is trying her best to break that addiction, even if it kills her. He tells them, "I wanted you to see what real courage is... It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and

Dubose. She represents racism which is the main point in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, “‘ Your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for!’” (135). Here Mrs. Dubose officially describes her ways of thinking. She believes that black people are nothing and that they worthless. She uses strong diction in order to describe her perspective of Atticus and his work. Through her and her symbolism Jem and Scout learn about racism. Racism is a cruel thing and affects the people who encounter it. “ I had become almost accustomed to hearing insults aimed at Atticus,” (136). Scout has become used to the remarks given about Atticus and their family. Although the children are used to it that does not mean they aren’t annoyed by it. Many people took racism as a way of life whereas the Finches saw it as an injustice. Just like this quote, eventually Jem could not handle Mrs. Dubose and destroyed her garden. He did something about what he viewed as an injustice by Mrs.

Mrs. Dubose is an old lady who lives two doors up the street from the Finch's house. Atticus' son, Jem destroyed Mrs. Dubose's flowers because she had said disrespectful things about Atticus which brought out Jem's anger. Even though Atticus was very upset, he does not believe violence is the appropriate way to approach any situation considering it does not teach you valuable lessons. Instead, Jem's punishment was to read to Mrs. Dubose every day for the month and in the end taught him the true meaning of courage. Atticus demonstrates that holding your head up and fists down will save you from more complicated situations. Another example would be when disrespectful Bob Ewell spat on Atticus' face because Atticus made Bob look like a fool during his testimony. Atticus stayed calm during the whole situation. He held his head high and walked away during the scene. Following this further, Atticus sets honorable examples for his children. He believes all people have goodness in their hearts no matter how cruel or heartless they act, even if their status was low, they would have generosity and kindness inside. The first impression of Mrs. Dubose was described as a rude lady. She says to Scout, “Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!” (Lee 133). However, Mrs. Dubose is really a kind lady who causes no harm once you get the kindness out of her. In addition, Atticus compliments her and treats her as he would treat any

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters Jem and Scout are were walking to town when they walk by Mrs. Dubose's house. Mrs. Dubose says some very hurtful things towards them, which prompts Jem to cut out her flowers. This situation is misleading because it shows that Mrs Dubose was a bad person, but in actuality she was a thoughtful lady.

Dubose to teach a lesson of courage and strength in a form that is not immediately clear to the reader. While most of the town sees Mrs. Dubose as a crotchety old woman it later becomes clear to the reader that she was never a truly bad lady. After her death Atticus explains to his children, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand… She was the bravest person I ever knew” (128). Mrs. Dubose’s addiction affects only her temporary behavior. While she does not approve of Atticus, most of the insults said to his children are not sincere. If she truly believes her words, she will not allow them into her life. Atticus does not want his children referring to his shooting of the mad dog as a courageous act. The “real courage” he is speaking of is facing a situation with knowledge that negative consequences will occur. Mrs. Dubose knows that ending her addiction will cause pain in her life, but she continues to do what she believes is right. As a result, her fortitude is passed on to Jem and Scout. She was born as a good person, and she died as a good person. Additionally, Mrs. Dubose is an example of determination and tenacity. Atticus explains to Jem, “She meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did” (127). When she realizes she is addicted to morphine, it is Mrs. Dubose’s intention to free herself of it before her death. She recognizes a flaw in her life that needs to be fixed. Jem and Scout provide distraction to help achieve this. With their assistance, she is able to survive longer periods of time between each administration of her addictive painkiller. Most people would choose to surrender and die relatively free of suffering, but Mrs. Dubose continues to fight until she reaches her end goal. She pays little attention to her physical pain, but more to following her moral values and overcoming something she believes

The word “n-----” connotes a lesser social status because during this time period an African American was considered a lesser person compared to a white man. This means Mrs. Dubose is saying that Atticus has the same social status as an African American. This made Scout think that Mrs. Dubose is evil just by the way she talked to them. Jem became angry and he destroyed Mrs. Dubose’s flowers, and as a punishment from Atticus, Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose daily for a month. At the end of every reading session, Ms. Dubose gets a fit, which ends the reading session daily. Comparatively, towards the end of the month, Mrs. Dubose had fewer fits. After Ms. Dubose died, Atticus explains to the kids that “ ‘She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you’re sick as she was, it’s all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn’t all right for her. She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did’” (148). This quote proves that people should not judge a person evil or innocent without genuinely knowing them. This is shown when Scout first thinks Ms. Dubose is evil just because she yelled at Scout and Jem daily. After the reading sessions, Scout truly understood Ms. Dubose and realized she is a lady that does not back down from a fight. Atticus truly understood her and respects her courage even though they have different ideas. All in all, Ms. Dubose was first judged as evil because

Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, plays an immensely important role in the children’s maturing by teaching them valuable life lessons that benefit their character and knowledge of how to live in the world. When telling Jem and Scout why Mrs. Dubose acts the way she does, and how he thinks she is one of the most courageous women he knows, he says, “Courage is when you know your licked before you begin but you begin anyway”(128). The children learn that Mrs. Dubose was not a mean, old, wicked lady; she was a person trying to get rid of an addiction, even though it would cause her pain to do so. This entire conversation shows Scout and Jem that people are not always what one perceives them to be, and that one needs to understand why someone does the things they do before they judge

Dubose. Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict who was rude to everyone around her. Most citizens of Maycomb ignored her when she lectured them. However, Atticus was always polite to her. For example, when Atticus passed by her, he stated, “Good evening, Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening.” (133) This shows that Atticus treats her with respect, knowing that he is doing the right thing even though many others in Maycomb would disregard her. Despite Mrs. Dubose’s stereotypically rude attitude, Atticus is polite because he believes that stereotypes do not define one’s character. Also, when Scout told Atticus that Mrs. Dubose called him a “n-word lover,” he did not even get mad. Instead, Atticus told Scout, “... it’s never an insult to be called what someone thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you.” (144-145) Atticus realizes that Mrs. Dubose’s remark toward him represents how society viewed him, as he was defending a black man. He never resorts to revenge against others because he does not allow the remarks to affect him. Instead, he is polite to them, knowing that he is doing the right

Amy Schultz To Kill a Mockingbird Many characters and events in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, are not what they seem. Mrs. Dubose appears to be a rude old women who found fault in everyone and yelled cruel things at anyone who walked past her house. Your perception of Mrs. Dubose is changed when Atticus tells Scout and Jem, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin

Mrs.Dubose believes Scout needs to talk formally, and not say “hey”, but she also calls her ugly because of the fact that she does not wear a dress. Back when Mrs.Dubose was being raised, she was taught to talk in a certain way, dress in a certain, way and behave in a certain way. She does not think Atticus is raising the kids this way so she tries to correct them and tell the kids what they need to change.

In chapter 3, Scout states; “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behaviour”. When Jem, cuts Mrs Dubose camellias, in chapter 11 for insulting Atticus, his punishment was to read to her every day. When he read to her he found it disturbing that she had fits and after a month Mrs Dubose dies. It was only known to Jem later that she had these fits because she was seriously ill and had become addicted to morphine. By Jem reading to her, it was distracting her from her addiction and she would be able to die clear from utilizing painkillers. Atticus later states that “I wanted you to see what real courage is...You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won...she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew."(Chapter 11) This was significant as, even though the children thought of her as a spiteful woman, she was going through a personal time in her life that made her that way. Mrs Dubose relates to the quote as even though she came across as horrible, other people needed to put themselves in her position and perceive how badly she was struggling with her

Over the course of the novel, Atticus shows continuous moments of courage that greatly impact the people around him. One instance is the situation with Mrs. Dubose. Both Jem and Scout hate Mrs. Dubose because everytime they walk by her house she taunts them and insults them and Atticus; however, whenever Atticus walks by he, “would sweep off his hat, wave gallantly to her and say, ‘Good evening, Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening’” (Lee 133).

Mrs. Dubose displays acts of personal courage in her honesty and strength. When Jem and Scout walk past her house to go meet Atticus on his way home,

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates the character of Mrs. Dubose to teach the children that people’s character is not always as it first appears and the differences between outward and inward personas. Her outward persona is rude and racist. She yells at Scout for not addressing her properly, and she carries a loaded gun under her shall. This public persona is what people in the town of Maycomb see, and for Scout and Jem, the only Mrs. Dubose they see. However, Atticus sees Mrs. Dubose differently, and he wants to teach the kids about “real courage”.