From Scout’s perspective, she, as well as Jem, view Mrs. Dubose as an irate and racist old woman who frequently calls out insults from her front porch, “Mrs. Dubose would become bored and pick on us: ‘Jeremy Finch, I told you you’d live to regret tearing up my camellias. You regret it now, don’t you?’” (Lee 146). Nonetheless, it is only later in the novel that Mrs. Dubose’s true strength is revealed. The central conflict of the scene occurs through Jem’s punishment, and realization as well as Mrs. Dubose’s inner conflict in her fight against her own morphine addiction.
Bravery can be demonstrated in many ways. The most common way we see it today is in movies or books by a hero facing a villain who is much more powerful than themselves. However, bravery can be much more. It can be killing a spider despite having an extreme fear of the insect or speaking your mind knowing there will be backlash. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose demonstrates an entirely different kind of bravery, and one which may be the bravest of all, she stands up to pain in the face of death in order to be a better person.
With Mrs.Dubose’s death, Jem shows how you must learn to see the
Many philosophers say; “The most challenging part of growing up is letting go of what is comfortable, and moving on to something unknown.” This quote strongly applies to the maturity process of Jeremy “Jem” Finch, a lead character in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Jem struggles to understand his role in society as the picturesque facade of his sleepy southern town is destroyed, revealing the darkness underneath the surface. In this coming-of-age story amidst of a race war, Jem navigates the hardships of maturity. He is aided by the guidance of his father, who plays an integral role in the conflict of the small town as the court-appointed lawyer of an African-American man falsely accused of assaulting a white
That lead to Jem overcoming their fear of Boo and even become friends with him. Boo later begins to leave them little trinkets in a tree, returns Jem’s pants, and puts a blanket over Scout’s shoulders at the fire. Later in the story, Atticus holds up Mrs. Dubose as the ultimate definition of bravery, she shows us bravery throughout the book as she battles her addiction to morphine. As mentioned in the story, "Her head moved slowly from side to side. From time to time she would open her mouth wide, and I could see her tongue undulate faintly.
First, Jem learns about the basics of courage through the teachings of Atticus. Jem had just got done reading to Mrs. Dubose after he destroyed her flowers. Mrs. Dubose died about a month after and Atticus is explaining what the importance of him reading to her was. Atticus explained,
Jem was walking home when Ms. Dubose started her usual ranting but this time it was different. She went on about Atticus and how he was a disgrace to this town, and Jem finally snapped. He took his sister’s newly acquired baton and started smashing all of her snow on the mountain flower bushes. As his punishment, Atticus made Jem read to Ms. Dubose for a little more than a month. Not only does Atticus show courage by raising Jem
“In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs. Dubose. I wondered if Jems activities had put her there and for a moment I felt sorry for her.” The reason why Jem and Scout were at Mrs. Dubose’s house, was because Jem and Scout were walking by her house when Dubose started yelling at the kids saying that Atticus is not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for.” Jem lost his temper and takes Scouts baton he bought for her and snaps it in half. Jem destroys all of
Jem had the conception that courage was a “manly man”, a man that was tough and could fight. However, using Ms. Dubose as an example, she explained a new type of courage to Jem. Ms. Dubose knew that her struggle was close to impossible to win, as many people failed to break addictions, yet she still tried to fight it, and winning at the end. The courage to do so was considered, by Atticus, real courage. This was also demonstrated by Liu Xiaobo.
Mrs. Dubose put Jem to the test when she stepped out of line with remarks about Jem’s father, Atticus. Atticus had told Jem “ You just be a gentleman, son” (102). Atticus told him this in hopes Jem would be mature enough to see the sometimes you have to be the bigger person or in this case a gentleman. After one too many rude comments from Mrs. Dubose, Jem finally snapped and what Atticus had told him, did not matter anymore. “He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves” (103).
It’s your job not to let her make you mad. ”(page 100). Jem was far more civilized than Mrs.Dubose. Their relationship was not a good one, especially after Jems anger caused him to “...cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs.Dubose owned. ”(page 103).
The famous words of Martin Luther King still echo into our society today, "I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls". The basic lesson that Martin was trying to teach is the same that the author Harper Lee is trying to get across in To Kill a Mockingbird, that all men and women of every skin color are equal. Harper Lee shows this by depicting a white family that lives in a white town in the early 1930s in southern Alabama. Atticus, the father, is defending an African American man named Tom Robinson. He is accused of raping a white woman, and the town is against Tom because of racism, even though there is no evidence against him.
Harper Lee wants to tell us that it takes courage NOT to kill a mockingbird Courage and the symbol of the mockingbird are two of the most important, or in fact in my opinion the most important themes, which are addressed and displayed in the highly praised, but also controversial novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee. I will try to interpret these two motives and show how they are strongly connected to each other. There are many different types of courage and many people who all show it in their own personal way. If people talk about bravery and courage, they mostly think of the physical kind of courage. But there are also other kinds, which are often forgotten or cast aside by their big brother: moral and emotional courage.
"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, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. " This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case.
"Courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" According to Atticus Finch, an honest lawyer in Harper Lee 's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. "Real courage" is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. Atticus fits into this definition of what "real courage" is and demonstrates it several times throughout the novel. "The only thing we 've got is a black man 's word against the Ewells '.
