What is the significance of mrs. dubose in to kill a mockingbird

This makes Jem angry. Jem becomes angry at something that Mrs. Dubose says several times, but Atticus tells him to be a gentleman and calm himself. Atticus strikes up conversation with her gallantly every time that Jem and Scout visit her.

The day after Jem's 12th birthday, Jem and Scout go to town. They pass by Mrs. Dubose, who is sitting on the porch. Dubose accuses them of skipping school, finds Scout's clothing too unladylike, and worst of all badmouth's Atticus. Later, Jem seeks revenge by cutting off Mrs. Dubose's prized camellia flowers with the baton he bought for Scout.

Dubose's house for her to decide his punishment, which ends up to be reading to her. The following Monday, Scout and Jem go to Mrs. Dubose's house. Jessie opens the door for them. Dubose is in bed, and she listens to Jem read a copy of Ivanhoe. Scout describes her as looking terrible, but doesn't realize it was because of morphine withdrawal symptoms at that moment. Dubose grows distracted, and makes fewer and fewer corrections to Jem's reading, and starts making strange motions.

Jem asks if she's alright, but Mrs. Dubose doesn't respond. Jessie shoos them out of the house. Jem tells Atticus what happens, saying that he wasn't frightened, but thought it was nasty, describing her as having 'fits.

This pattern continues for several afternoons. Atticus tells Scout not to let Mrs. Dubose make her angry either, as Mrs. Dubose had her own problems already. One afternoon a month later, Atticus knocks on the door. Dubose smiles at him and tells him the time. Scout notices that they've been at Mrs. Dubose's house longer and longer each day, and that her fits had gotten less and less common.

The adults talk, and agree that Jem would no longer have to read to her after a week. Jem develops a detached politeness to her. A month later, Atticus gets a call and goes to Mrs. Dubose's house, saying he wouldn't be long.

He ends up gone until nightfall, and carries a candybox. Atticus tells them that she died a few minutes ago, but no longer had to suffer. Dubose had said many bad things to him and his family, he showed respect to her when he knew that she died not relying on a pain reliever than suffering from it. Not only doe he exemplify a man of ethics worthy of defending Tom when he respects Mrs.

Dubose, he does so once opinions and apprehension…. Events shape us as people. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout changes a lot as a person throughout the novel. At the beginning she wants to read then gets discouraged by her teacher, she sees what the sentence is for Tom Robinson, and she gets to see Boo Radley.

These events change her as a person and how she acts around people. Henry Lafayette Dubose and her camellias are another representation of flowers showing through the characters in the book. Camellias represent courage, and Mrs. Dubose represents courage repeatedly. Dubose, he is explaining what she really went through behind closed doors.

It took courage for her to even try and get off morphine knowing she was addicted to it; she set a standard for herself. Respect was an important value to Atticus and Jem Finch. Atticus respected every person he talked to, even if he barely knew them. Jem realized that respecting people was important, and even came to the point of respecting his sister at a young age. Courage was a value seen throughout the novel by Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.

Tom had the courage to tell his story in front of many people and an all white jury to try to save his life. Dubose won. All ninety eight pounds of her. While initially the reader might assume Jem broke his arm through innocent childhood games, by the end of the novel we understand the darker, more complicated truth behind the accident.

In the early chapters of the book, Jem and Scout find several small items, ranging from sticks of gum to a pocket watch, left by Boo Radley in the knothole of a tree on the Radley property. These gifts are the first of several kindnesses that Boo extends to the children, ultimately culminating in Boo killing Bob Ewell to protect Jem.

The gifts also represent one of the ways that Boo tries to engage with the world around him without giving up the secrecy and privacy that he requires. Despite his reclusive nature, Boo engages the Finch children in a more generous and kind way than many of the other adults that they encounter. Another reason the jury finds Tom guilty is because both Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob, both perjured themselves on the stand.

But both Mayella and Bob lied rather than admit that Mayella tried to kiss Tom. Calpurnia is a surrogate mother to Jem and Scout who teaches them about good manners, hard work, and honesty.

As children, Dill and Scout pretend that they are engaged to be married. He visits Maycomb every summer, and as it becomes clearer that his own family is erratic and insecure, readers understand that the Finches and his Aunt Stephanie are, in fact, his true family.

He represents both childhood innocence and friendship. Although she is a mean, racist neighbor, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose teaches the children a lesson in courage. As Jem reads aloud to her every day for a month—a punishment for destroying her camellia bushes after she harshly criticizes Atticus—she weans herself from her morphine addiction by refusing her medicine for longer and longer each day.

Dolphus Raymond, a white man who prefers the company of African Americans, uses a brown paper bag as a theatrical prop to act like a drunkard. He has mixed-race children and lives among the African American community as one of them. During the trial, when Dill feels sick, Mr.

Raymond explains to Scout and Dill that he pretends to be drunk all the time so that people can explain away his behavior. He admits that he even staggers sometimes to reinforce his charade. The African American community feels angry and upset, but they cannot show it in public. Many racist white people feel that justice was done because a black man is always guilty, no matter what.

Some white people are ashamed and sincerely saddened by the injustice done by the jury. Bob Ewell is satisfied because his lie worked, and Jem is furious and incredulous. As Jem and Scout walk home that night, two figures emerge from the shadows, each with their own intentions.