Mrs.Dubose in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

Mrs.Dubose in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

The character Mrs. Dubose is met by the reader in chapter 11 of the

novel, and is used as a dramatic device through out that chapter. This

technique from the author of Mrs. Dubose helps the reader to fully

comprehend how much of a good neighbour she is to the Finch family,

and also her true good qualities.

From the beginning of chapter, Scout makes her feelings towards Mrs.

Dubose very clear, by stating that "she was vicious", and that "Jem

and I hated her". They "could do nothing to please her", and when

Scout tried to please her she would reply by hurling abuse at them.

Although Jem and Scout do not fully understand why she was such a

cruel person, Atticus would always remind his two children of how they

should be polite to her, as "she's an old lady, you just hold your

head high and be a gentleman". However, it all becomes too much for

Jem, when Mrs. Dubose starts throwing abuse at him, but about Atticus

saying that "your father's no better than the niggers and the trash he

works for". This for Jem, was not only the final straw, but was the

worst possible insult to him. In the novel Atticus is very influential

to Jem and so fully respected and admired by him. This insult

painfully hurts Jem and to get even, he decides to kill all of Mrs.

Dubose's valuable flowers. But when Atticus finds out about his

actions, his punishment is to read to Mrs. Dubose (at her request)

every day apart from Saturdays for two hours. Jem reluctantly agrees

to do so, and Scout agrees to join him, out of sheer boredom. Whilst

Jem reads to her, Scout realizes how sick and ill she was as "her face

was a ...

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...ers with sympathy and trying to see life from their

perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and

Scout to show them that it is possible to live both these qualities

without losing hope or becoming cynical. In this way, Atticus is able

to admire Mrs. Dubose's courage even while disproving of her racism. I

believe that Scout's progress as a character in the novel is defined

by her gradual development towards her understanding of Atticus's

teachings and beliefs as shown many times previously with Jem. Overall

the incident surrounding Mrs Dubose helps the reader to understand

Scout in a more detailed manner, as her understanding of what real

courage is helps her to view the world from Atticus's perspective

(like Jem) ensuring that she will not become cynical or prejudiced as

she loses her innocence.