At the end of chapter 11, Atticus says of Mrs. Dubose that "she was the bravest person I ever knew." Why does he say this? How does Jem reply? What is the significance of his response?
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At the end of Chapter 11, Atticus says “Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever knew” because he wanted his children to know that brave doesn’t always mean being physically strong or being able to shoot a gun, but being brave has allot to do with how emotionally strong you are. Mrs. Dubose, before she died, she wanted to end her addiction to pain killer so she could die free. Not many people do this. They give up and use their death as an escape. They don’t want to face the difficulties of ending an addiction.
At first, Jem was angry with Mrs. Dubose for leaving the camellia, and he thought she was just taunting him even after she was gone. He was upset and confused about why she would do this. However, she left the flower to tell Jem that everything was going to be okay. That she was not mad at him, but that she had gone on to a better place and she was finally happy. Atticus helped both Jem and Scout to realize this.
Later at night, Scout wakes up to fined Jem fingering the tiny flower. I think he finally appreciates Bubose’s message and that it was to him and no one ells. I think Jem felt special, but he also felt happy for her, and that she moved on without the pain of never ridding of her addiction. I think finally realizing that somebody was mean to you for a reason that you could never understand could be very sad. When Mrs. Dubose was yelling at Jem and telling him all of the things she hated about their father, it was because of the addiction and Jem never knew that when she was alive. He would just get mad right back. I think that when he realized that she didn’t really mean all of those things, he felt guilty of not only following his father’s wishes for him to behave like a gentlemen, but not being more kind and understanding to her. But she understands, and Jem knows that she’s in a better place.
Atticus is attempting to install in Jem a sense of empathy and tolerance when he states that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest woman he ever knew. Despite Mrs. Dubose’s outwardly irritable temperament, Atticus manages to see the positive traits that she possesses. It is because of the courage Mrs. Dubose exhibits (while battling her Morphine addiction) that Atticus acknowledges her as a dignified human being, thus he strives to assist her by pressuring Jem to offer her succor. Jem does not immediately understand why Atticus brings himself to show such compassion toward one who shows nothing but apathy toward others. But after Atticus’s explanation, Jem seems to gain a newfound tolerance of Mrs. Dubose as he does not reject her camellia, which was Mrs. Duboses’s way of show gratitude for Jem’s service. Throughout the story Atticus is portrayed as the “moral soul” who continues to act as a source of wisdom for both Jem and Scout. And it is because of Atticus’s drive for morality that both Jem and Scout are becoming more and more exposed to the sinister forces of Maycomb. The incident with Mrs. Dubose would have never occurred if Atticus had not began defending Tom Robinson. Therefore It can be inferred that if Atticus had never “meddled” In the affairs in of the town then it would never have “snowed in Maycomb,” The town would have remained in its dreary state and life would continue its monotonous cycle.
I think that this means that she had a strong heart. That she was fighting to stay alive. Also she was a morphine addict and when ever her alarm went off she would get drugs/pain killers.
Jem was very supprised because she has been very mean to to Scout and himself for years. And when he heard that she was a drug addict he understood a lot more because the morphine changed her brain.
Atticus say she is brave because of the things she says. She knows their rude and disrespectful but she could care less. She says what she thinks and doesn't get in trouble for it because she is old and sick. had a child or another adult said that they would have been hated. I don't consider her brave I consider her a coward. Jem throws her box into the fire. This is his last sign of resentment toward her and telling her he does not accept her apology.
In chapter 11, Atticus states that Mrs. Dubose was "the bravest person he ever knew" I think he was referring to her fight with her addiction to morphine. She was cranky and old, she was frail and weak and yet she was strong willed enough to actually try to end her addiction, determined enough to keep on going. She was brave at heart and that is the important part.
Jem was upset, almost frightened by the camellia until Atticus explained it's true meaning. It wasn't a threat or a refusal to forget what he had done, it was a symbol of forgiveness. Her fight was over.
The kids are puzzled, because Mrs. Dubose was always quite rude to the Finches especially about Atticus’s involvement with Tom Robinson, however Jem slowly starts to see the flower as a gift. It was grouchy Mrs. Dubose’s last stand against her addiction and last tie to the earth. Mrs. Dubose’s addiction messed her up and Jem and Scout suffered her taunting for it, the camellia was almost an apology.
I think that the reason why Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose was brave was because she was strong when it came to fighting to get off of morphine. Mrs. Dubose wanted Jem to read to her in order to distract her from the drug, and Atticus knows how she feels, since she is old and, like Sophie said, wants to get off of the morphine and die free without having "sinned."
Jem intensely dislikes Mrs. Dubose, so he hates why Atticus doesn't too. He throws the box into the fire, but keeping the camellia, as it probably reminds him of what he had done to the rest of Mrs. Dubose's camellias. Scout finds him fingering the petals before she went to bed.
I think the significance of the response is that even though she was mean to Scout and Jem, people should still feel pity for her, as she was old and on morphine and was trying to get off of it. Even though she was mean, she was mean because she was mad at herself.
Hi, its Stef I think that Atticus says that Mrs. Dubos is the bravest person I know, because though she was a weak, old, mean woman, she knew that she was going to die very soon, she kept on living. I also think that she was brave, because if I know that if I was going to die in a few months, I would be very scared, and I would probably kill myself, so the fact that she just kept living, and tried to act normal, was very brave.
After Mrs. Dubose died, I think that Jem was somewhat confused, because he had just been reading this book to her, and once a month and one week went by, he thought he was free of his punishment of always having to read to her. After she dies, she leaves him the book, which I think confused him, because he thought that his punishment was over. After he finds the book, he finds a flower in the package, which, after Atticus's explanation, made him feel happy, because it was kind of a symbol that, even though he had this book, the flower told him that he was free, and everything was fine.
After Atticus and Jem talk, Scout goes to bed. She comes down, and sees Jem fingering the flower. I think that this is significant, because he finally sees that Mrs. Dubose wanted to make up with him, and that Jem was finally forgiving her for all of the mean things that she said to him. Stef
In chapter 11, Atticus says about Mrs. Dubose, “she was the bravest person I ever knew." Atticus is referring to Mrs. Dubose’s boldness and her frank statements. He is also referring to Mrs. Dubose’s ENDEAVOR to get over her morphine addiction. In many cases, people often keep to themselves about what’s really on their mind and Mrs. Dubose wasn’t one of those cases. No matter how rude and/or her comments were, she was never afraid or timid about them. Also, she tried to overcome her morphine addiction which is not only brave, but ambitious, and very difficult to do. Instead of continuing her addiction, she listened to stories. The average addict might try to find a past-time other than overdosing, but soon realize that it’s too hard to quit, and then go back to overdosing.
When Jem broke Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes, he was angry about what she said about Atticus. His consequence wasn’t harsh in any way, he just had to read to her. I agree and disagree with Sophie. I agree that when someone is mean to you and you don’t understand why, it can make you sad, but I don’t think that applies to chapter 11. Jem’s punishment isn’t an act of “meanness”, but just a simple consequence for destroying her things (which he could be charged for)..
When Mrs Dubose dies shortly after Jem’s punishment is finished and Atticus explains unknown information about Mrs. Dubose, Jem gets sad. He realizes that he can never tell her sorry. He realizes that he can never really give her a heartfelt apology for breaking her things.
I feel like Atticus said that Mrs. Dubose was very brave because she was a morphine addict, and she had all these problems based on her addiction. Atticus wanted to get the image in Jem's head that she was in great pain, that she was suffering. He knew that she was very ill and that Jem and Scout did not really understand why she had her fits. When Jem kills all her flowers because of what she said, its a sign that she was trying to communicate with him, but she just does not know how. When Jem is told to read to her for two hours a day from Monday to Saturday, he starts to get use to her and all her little fits. As a reply Jem thinks that she was just plain mean and that she never liked him. He never knew her illness would cause her little fits and her rude remarks. When she died and Jem got the little flower, he felt anger because he thought that she was trying to torment him even though she had died. The importance in his response was that he learned to deal with her and i would say, he kind of enjoyed reading to her, he became use to this plan and stared a new "life" with her, meaning that he tried to start over with her from scratch.
Jem responds to Atticus by throwing the empty box into the fire, But he kept the camellia inside. At first Jem was really infuriated, but then he realized the the full depth of what Atticus told him. I think he understands the true strength that Mrs. Dubose had to conjure to give up her addiction. When you are told you only have a few months to live you have a big choice to make, especially in Mrs. Dubose’s situation. She could either give up and sink back into her addiction, or she could go out fighting with a clean conscience. One of the most amazing things is this world is when people can overcome obstacles and defy the obstacles in their path. In the end Mrs. Dubose passed away with a free soul, and that means she was happy in the end. Jem saw behind her harsh words and was able to see the struggle she went through to leave the world smiling. At first Jem only saw the meanness in her but didn’t know the full affects of the situation and her addiction to Morphine. In would have been so easy to just let the pain slip away and slowly sink into oblivion. Mrs. Dubose pulled herself out of that dark place and was able to complete a nearly astounding feat. Jem learned a lot from her struggle adn her accomplishments.
At the end of chapter 11 Atticus says " Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person i knew". i think Atticus says this because he wanted to tell Scout and Jem that being brave has many definitions. you can be braver by trying to break a habit then being able to shoot a gun. Mrs. Dubose was a morphine( pain killer) addict. she had an addiction to drugs and she wanted to stop. she wanted to die free of having to do something without being able to stop. a lot of people think that it wont do any harm. they give up. Mrs. Dubose wanted to die free of what the normal thing people would do. she wanted to die with something to be proud of.in a way i can relate to Mrs. Dubose. she wanted to die with something to be proud of. she wanted to go to sleep feeling everything that should be accomplished for today is. when i have all my homework done and i have taken a bath and im in bed and im all prepared that makes me feel secure. i feel safe knowing everything is alright an im doing good i feel like i can go to bed at night without any worries. i think thats how Mrs. Dubose wanted to die. knowing that she has accomplished such a big goal can make her feel secure and feel as though she is leaving the world with something to look back on. Jem was mad at Mrs. Dubose for giving him the camelia. he thought she wanted to keep on being mean to him even though she was dead. but she also left a flower saying she was not mad and everything was okay between them. later on Jem starts playing and fingering with the flower. i think that shows that he appreciates the flower and that he was not mad at Mrs. Dubose anymore.
"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 you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."
Even as a twelve year old, I can make an affrimative statement that life is not for the light at heart. Even through all of the joyous and fun moments, this book so far highlights the seriousness and reality of life.The reason why I bring this up is because life can be compared to a battlefield, and I'm order to survive, whatever your situation, you must be a brave warrior. As Atticus stated, bravery is not welding a gun in your hand. Not only in this novel, but in the media, I have learned that bravery is having great "natural" audacity (knowing how to verbally be brave).
Atticus brings Mrs. Dubose's death to realization at the end of this chapter. What is interesting, is that Jem actually ASKS about Mrs. Dubose's status before her death is revealed. Jem constantly contradicts Atticus's good words about Mrs. Dubose, prevantly bringing up the fact that Mrs. Dubose has shouted negative things about Atticus. Atticus explains the pain killer situation, and gives Jem the candy box that Jessie was ordered to make for Jem. Inside is a Snow-on-the-Mountain camellia. Jem is utterly disgusted and throws the CANDY BOX in the fire, not the CAMELLIA. This shows that Jem is somewhat affectionate with the gift. Scout later sees Jem "fingering the wide petals".
Jem's response is significant because it resembles respect, caring and understanding. Respect because even though Atticus told him to, Jem showed up at Mrs. Dubose's house EVERY DAY after school and Saturdays for two hours. He could have skipped a day, and may not have even received a "licking". It shows that Jem was not only respectful, bit also responsible. Caring because even though this is only text, we can tell that when Jem found out that Mrs. Dubose's death ("Oh. Well") was quit concerned. Also, he kept the camellia instead of pitching it in the fire. Understanding because he understood that Mrs. Dubose was in a had health state, was off pain killers, and was sick and tired.
Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose is brave because he wanted to teach his kids that brave doesn’t always come from one being able to stand up for one’s self, but being able to give something up or being able to try something new. I think that though she progressed slowly Mrs. Dubose tried something new by trying to be nice to the kids, and gave something up by giving her life so that she was free of the medicine.
Jem reacted to the speech and gift by throwing the box in the fire but keeping the camellia safe. I think this all matters because it symbolizes Jem’s feelings. When Jem throws the box into the fire I think that he is trying to show that he is still angry and confused, I think he feels that there is another message in Mrs. Dubose’s gift than her forgiving him, he feels that she is also trying to say sorry to him. When Jem keeps the camellia he is trying to show that he is thankful and forgives Mrs. Dubose.
Before Scout goes to sleep she sees Jem stroking the camellia. I think that Jem might have been stroking the camellia because he feels guilty and sad for Mrs. Dubose, Jem feels that he should have been able to have a nicer relationship with her and wishes that he could have wished her a happy afterlife or done something nice for her. I also think that Jem was happy for Mrs. Dubose for being able to be in a better place, and for being able to be brave enough to stop using the pain reliever.
At the end of Chapter 11, when Atticus says "Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever knew" Atticus was talking about internally. I agree with Sophie when she had said that being brave doesn't mean to be physically strong; it also means that you could be brave in the soul. While fighting her sickness, Mrs. Dubose had not acted as if she were in a lot of pain and suffrage, she had acted as if she was still very strong and even though teased Jem and Scout, she had held her head high. Because of the rudeness Mrs. Dubose had brought Jem and Scout, Jem had not cared for the death of her. When Atticus had told Jem how Mrs Dubose had felt, and of her suffrage and pain during the process of dying freely, Jem had changed his image of Mrs. Dubose. At first Jem is uneasy and not sure of how to think of Dubose, but when Atticus had given him the Camellia, Jem had returned to his hatred for Mrs. Dubose. Jem had thought that she was fooling with him even after she passed away, but Atticus had explained to Jem what the flower meant. The Camellia was a message to Jem saying that all of their past of arguing had been erased, and that their friendship had been renewed by the giving of this flower. I think that now becuase of this, Jem and Mrs. Dubose have a faint friendship, although she is no more in the living world, Jem appreciates what she had done.
I think in the recent chapters a major theme has been breaking rules and expectations. We talked about how Scout broke the rules and expectations of being a girl. Atticus is breaking the expectations of him by defending Tom Robinson. In this chapter I think Mrs. Dubose is not what most people classify as brave, but I believe Atticus is right when he says the Mrs. Dubose is very brave. Mrs. Dubose had been addicted to painkillers, but had fought through her pain to die “free”. I do not think this makes Jem like Mrs. Dubose but I think he wishes that he had been more respectful. His response is to keep her flower and to admire it and treat it nicely. I think he feels like he treated Mrs. Dubose like the flowers he destroyed in her garden, when he should have treated her like the way he treated the flower top she gave him: with respect.
At the end of chapter 11, Atticus says of Mrs. Dubose that "she was the bravest person I ever knew," because she views people differently. She thought a nigger lover was a bad thing, but it isn't for Atticus. He was also saying she disserves to be read to by Jem. To show Jem she has real courage for fighting death, by sing painkiller with only a few months to live. He wanted to show Jewhat real courge is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.
Jem response was to throw the candy box into the fire because he was angry. I think Jem then got mad that he didn't know why she was actually acting the way she was. Also his father wanted him to know "real" courage instead of what Jem thinks is cool and includes courage.
The signifigance of the response is that Atticus told Jem the true reason why he shouldnt be mad at Mrs.Dubose, so Jem got mad.
I agree with a lot of people. Mrs. Dubose fought hard through her Morphine addiction for many years. "According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody", Mrs. Dubose was unapologetic and opinionated, as shown by her blunt comments towards people, Atticus in particular. Jem responds to Atticus's comment by throwing the candy box Mrs. Dubose gave to him into the fire, though he is later seen handling the white carmelia she gave him. I'm not sure of the significance, his view of her has appeared to have been changed. Maybe it was a thanks to him for keeping her company in the lonely life she was probably living.
At the end of Chapter 11 Atticus says "Mrs. Doubse was the bravest person i ever knew" I think he wanted his kids to know that she has been through alot. Atticus wanted his kids to know what brave really was. Mrs. Doubse dieing was a way to say that she has been strong all these years and she had left the earth free and with nothing and no oneI think that Atticus was trying to say that she is brave for facing such a strong addiction. I think that Mrs. Doubse asked Jem to read to her because she wanted to get closer to him and know him better before she did pass away. I think that the camellia in the candy box made jem think oh my gosh. I think Jem thought that the camellia was a way of saying just because I'm dead that doesn't mean that your work doesn't continue. I think that Jem was relieved to know that it ment now that i have passed away i am leaving free of troubles and free of problems. I think that it ment that every thing was all squared out. Later that night Jem has the flower and he is holding it. I think that the flower made him feel special. I think that flower was a way of saying thanking you for what you have done. I think it made him feel special because after everything that him and Scout have been through Mrs. Doubse gave that flower to him.
Jem portrays Mrs. Dubose as someone who is weak and frustrating. In the middle of chapter 11, when Jem is agitated by Mrs. Dubose, he talks as if his reaction by killing her plants was out of supporting Atticus' cause. Atticus seems to be a peace-maker in this scenario, and says that he works to love anyone. He says that she is the bravest person, because of how much she has gone through. She asks Jem to read to her as a time for distraction from her addiction. Atticus' attitude towards Mrs. Dubose is a mere advocacy: he wants to let Jem know how wise she was through her rough period of time. Jem throws the flower she gave him into the fire. We could see this as an act of resistance, or an act of sadness. He could be resisting the fact of her death, or what Atticus is saying. There is a sense that he feels that she is almost following him by giving him the flower. Getting rid of the flower is like getting rid of her permanently. Seeing it as an act of sadness is quite similar. He could have been attached to her, and wanted her out of his life forever. His response shows the more emotional side of Jem. Mrs. Dubose was not only harsh to him, but let us learn that Jem is similar to Atticus in terms of people: hes very caring.
Mrs. Dubose symbolizes a strong and caring women, mentally. Although she had taken morphine, I believe she knew the dangers of a morphine addiction. The fact that she was ready to take morphine was a reason for her bravery.
Another brave aspect was the fact she had Jem and Scout, "subjected to ruthless interrogation." (pg. 99). What this means is that Mrs. Dubose was brave enough to stand up to the children 'brave enough' to go into "Boo" Radley's yard.
In Maycomb, Dubose is the first person to outright comment in public about the children's actions. She also complains about Scout's actions as well. This shows a sense of bravery as apparently it is taboo in this community to talk about others.
Jem replies by first misunderstanding what the flowers meant. This is why he freaks out. The flower was an apology to Jem and only Jem. He was seen by Scout fingering the petal as to find something hidden. After a while of reading he realized Mrs. Dubose was not a bad person. That is what Atticus was trying to teach Jem. The box was burnt as it signified the hatred against the Finches. On the inside was the love and care. For example, The insulting, old, decrepit, Mrs. Dubose was a shell (the candy box) who was insulting to children. Candy is what children crave, but in the end it is just bad, (cavities and whatnot).
However, in the Candy Box is always a sweet thing, no matter the outcome. Jem fingering the flower was like eating candy and savoring it, because candy does not last forever.
When Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever met, Atticus is showing the inner side of Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict, which made her life extremely complex, and though Mrs. Dubose seemed tough, and harsh on the outside she was very fragile on the inside. sometimes being brave and having courage, does not that you have to be superman, it is possible to be brave by just surviving and not letting go to reality, by sticking to your believes. Mrs. Dubose was extremely brave because she choose to live the rest of her life basically morphine free, and that decision take extreme courage (since it means that she will live a major part of her life in pain.) When Atticus talks about Mrs. Dubose, he says "she was the bravest person I ever knew." Atticus truly makes a point.
In return to Atticus's saying about the brave Mrs. Dubose, Jem has a response that could be expected, but his response could also be passed as a complete surprise. Jem has no spoken response to Atticus, but both Scout and Atticus see that Jem has thought about what his father just said. By burning the candy box, I think Jem is symbolizing that he wants Mrs. Dubose to "leave him alone" but by keeping the camellia, I think Jem is also recognizing the importance of what he has learned about Mrs. Dubose in the past months. Jem's response symbols his understanding of live, death, and bravery.
What Atticus was referring to was Mrs. Dubose morphine addiction. She was old, sick, and cranky but she was strong and willed. She was brave and strong because she knew she was dying but she was going to fight to end her addiction even if she died trying. Getting Jem to read to her was something that was meant to get her mind off of the pain she was feeling. Every day she set the alarm clock, that determined when she would get medicine, later and later so that she would end up not wanting drugs anymore. Before Mrs. Dudose died she had her daughter cut the camellias that Jem re-grew and put them in a box for him. Jems reaction to this was one of frustration and fright but when Atticus explains to him that she meant the flowers and a symbol of forgiveness and a message that the fight was over. He took the camellia and silently went to bed.
When Atticus says that he thinks Mrs Dubose is brave, I think he says this because, like Sophie said that he was trying to show the children that brave doesn't always mean strong, as in physically strong, but it can mean strong as in doing what you feel you need to do no matter how hard it is.
I don't really think this makes Jem like Mrs Dubose, but it definetely seems like he begins to realizes he should have been more respectful. When Scout wakes up and finds Jem playing with the flower it seems clear that he finally understand the message.
The significance of this is that it shows a more emotional side of Jem. In the book, we mostly read about Scouts feelings and Jem's were never shared that often.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus says, “she was the bravest person I ever knew.” He is referring to Mrs. Dubose and how she had the courage to confront her problems and the will to express what she thought. I think that Atticus and Mrs. Dubose have some of the same qualities. They both fight for what they believe in, even though it may seem a losing battle. Mrs. Dubose speaks her mind freely like Atticus does. The first quality is to fight what you believe in. The next quality is pride and dignity. Mrs. Dubose ended her pain killer addiction even though she wasn’t going to live longer if she ended her addiction. Mrs. Dubose could have kept her addiction and her last part of her life would have been less painful, but she chose to have pride in herself before she died. This is like Atticus. He chose to defend Tom Robinson out of pride, even though the case might be a losing case and his friends and family might turn against him. This is a pride of being an honorable person. Atticus’s pride would be diminished if he didn’t do this case. He couldn’t even tell his children what to do if he did not represent Tom Robinson because he himself did not follow his obligations. Scout asks why Atticus is going through so much pain to defend this man. “For a number of reasons,” said Atticus. “The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” Mrs. Dubose sends a camellia to Jem just as she dies. Jem first reacts to the camellia by dropping it on the floor. He is scared. He first thinks it is a sign of revenge, but Atticus explains that the flower is a sign of forgiveness and tells Jem that she was the bravest person he ever knew. Jem, by picking up the camellia and admiring it, shows how he is admiring the great qualities of Mrs. Dubose. Atticus describes Mrs. Dubose as "the bravest person I ever knew." After telling how brave she was, Atticus says that being brave is not how many things you can hurt with a gun, but how you face the person with the gun. “She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe … son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her-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.” When Scout and Jem learn that Atticus was the sharpest shooter in Maycomb, they gain a deep respect for him. Their respect comes from the depiction of a man carrying a gun as brave. A gun is not for the brave, but for those who need a sense of security. A gun is a source of comfort that enables you to face your fears. I don’t think that Miss Mauddie was saying the full truth when she said “I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things”. This may be true, but I believe he put the gun down when he saw it no longer as a sign of strength, but a sign of insecurity. When Atticus became a lawyer, he put his courage to the test. He argued his point without using the end of a gun to get his point across, which is a true sign of bravery.
In chapter 11, we meet Ms. DuBose; a cantankerous old southern lady, who rumor has it keeps a Confederate Army riffle under her shawl. She would always harass Jem and Scout whenever they passed by her door. They thought that she was the meanest lady in town. One day after she insulted Atticus, calling him a “nigger lover”, Jem lost his temper and destroyed her camellia bushes. Atticus made Jem go back to talk with her and as a result he had to go to read to her almost every day for a month. One night, shortly after Jem had finished his reading obligation, Atticus went back one night to see Ms. DuBose. When he came home, he told the children that she had just died. Atticus wound up telling Jem and Scout that Ms. DuBose had been addicted to Morphine. She was old, sick, and in a lot of pain and a doctor had prescribed it for her. Ms. DuBose had already known from a few months before that she was going to die. She decided that she was going to overcome her addiction before she left this Earth. As Brittney quotes above, “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody.” This is why Atticus called her the bravest person he knew. She stood up to a terrible addiction in spite of all the pain and suffering so that she could check out as a free and whole person. This was a revelation to the kids as well. It was only emphasizing the message of civility that Atticus was trying to teach them. He was trying to teach the kids not to jump to conclusions too quickly and to avoid assumptions about people. Though Ms. DuBose may have been very difficult to overcome in her time of need, the children helped set her free of almost a magic curse set on her by the Morphine addiction. She went through a metamorphosis throughout the chapter. She was a caterpillar at the beginning. Through a long and painful process, she then blossomed into a beautiful butterfly. This process is one of will and courage overcoming the hardship of the transition. She was a soldier throughout by passing through these hardships. Her courageousness was defined not by any physical battle that she withstood, or by her personality, but by the battle of will against a drug. She cleansed herself before she left. If she had chosen to stay on Morphine, she would have been trapped in a mental jail cell, and so would her spirit, but by quitting, she set her spirit free to roam; and this is what defined her bravery.
Atticus says that Mrs.Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew because of the struggle she had with morphine. Atticus said she was brave because though she was a weak and sick old woman, she still had the audacity to try to overcome her addiction. Getting over addiction is a hard thing, simply because your body is addicted and feels that it is dependent on this source or substance.
Atticus mentions the idea of courage not involving a man holding a gun. He means that having courage or being brave doesn't mean you have to be violent or physical. To me, bravery is standing up for what is right or confronting one's fears. I feel that Atticus believes this too whether it is about Mrs.Dubose defeating her addiction, or standing up for african americans and those who think otherwise.
When Atticus hands Jem a box of camellias from Mrs.Dubose, he responds by calling her an "Old hell devil," and throwing the box into the fire but taking the camellias out. At first, I thought it showed cowardliness on Jem's part. I thought him throwing the box was a way of trying to forget her which would be the opposite of "facing fears." When I realized he took the camellias out of the box, it showed more of a sensitive side to Jem. You could tell he cared about Mrs.Dubose. It was also him accepting the message of the flowers. Atticus said that the flowers were a way of saying everything was alright now. Keeping the flowers went with this message.
Jem recieves a box filled with cotton and a camellia. A camellia is a white flower. This gift was from Mrs. Dubose, before she died, she gave it to Atticus for Jem. However when Jem recived this gift he got the wrong idea about it. He didn't understand why she kept on bothering him, why she wouldn't leave him alone. He sobbed into his father's arms not understanding why Mrs. Dubose was doing this. His father says That Jem was missunderstanding this gift. Atticus said that it wasn't to annoy him it was to tell him everything is ok. Almost like a way of Mrs Dubose saying she was sorry for calling their father names and ranting on about Jem being a bad child.
When Atticus says "she was the bravest person I ever knew." He's saying that she standed up to people who bothered her, aggravated her, or just people maybe and she did this by not physically hurting them, she used her words. She spoke what she wanted to say and sometimes those things were the most cruel things ever said, but that is how she fought, that was how she was brave. Being brave isn't all about your apperance, holding a gun in your hand shooting a mad dog. Sure that's brave, but realize it's when you've been hurt with all might in any type of way you're still hurt! "It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do." See now it's when you know you've already been defeated, but Mrs. Dubose always got to someone. That's why Jem destroyed her garden. All her name calling, all her ranting, all her unnecessary comments about Jem and Scout, had gotten in Jem's head and he couldn't take it.
How many people do you know sit on their porch or maybe out their window or where ever, start yelling to their neighbors saying how horrible they are or calling them names, but no one has ever stood up to them. Well think about it, there aren't many people you meet like that. Mrs. Dubose is one of them though and calling random people names not caring what they feel about them, wouldn't that be called barvey?
The reason for Atticus to tell his children that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person ever known to him is to show them that she was brave in defending her beliefs. She thought that Scout and Jem were rude and nasty people, and that Atticus was a black lover. I believe she was well aware of causing other people much misery and what she said hurt Jem and Scout's feelings to the core, but like Atticus she was independent; she did not live to rely on making others think her as a good person. She lived to believe in herself, and be herself. Atticus did not want his kids to believe that a person was strong and brave because of his talents and how he excels at what everyone is unable to do, gaining their appreciation and praise, but that a person is strong for being unaffected and unchanged by other people's views.
When Jem threw the candy box into the fire, it meant that he despised Dubose's public image, her cover, but later, he appreciated and understood the petals of the camellia, showing that he understood Mrs. Dubose's heart, her true vision. Being mean and nasty was not what she was doing. She was doing something far greater-being herself, unaffected by the outside world.
When Atticus says "Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever knew", I think what he meant was that she was a fighter. Though she had her crazy, neurotic, cantankerous personality, she was still trying to fight her addiction to morphine by reading. Jem's attitude towards Mrs. Dubose changes drastically in this chapter. Jem was first upset with Mrs. Dubose because she said Atticus was not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for". That was the bomb that set Jem off. A few weeks later when Mrs. Dubose is slowly getting sicker, Jem finds out all of this information about Mrs. Dubose such as her addiction and her effort to combat the addiction. Soon after that, Atticus gives Jem a box that Mrs. Dubose had given her maid for Jem; a white camilla was in the box.
In the end of chapter 11, Atticus seems to show a special interest in Mrs. Dubose's characteristics. He describes her sickness and explains how hard it is for people to overcome addictions like Mrs. Dubose's. I think that Atticus showed this special attention to her because he was, in a way, awed by her strong will. It intrigued him to know what kind of a person she was, different from others with her unique opinions, outgoing mind, and ability to overcome sicknesses. Atticus wanted to show that behind all of her ugly perspectives, Mrs. Dubose was this strong women and he wanted to state the fact that he thought she was very brave and that he in a way respected her courage.
In response, Jem angrily throws the gift of candies into the living-room fire. I think that he has such strong negative feeling about Mrs. Dubose that they can't be undone, even by Atticus's interesting point of view and example. There is a sense of pride and of what is right and wrong that goes through Jem in this chapter. He know's that it is wrong to ruin Mrs. Dubose's front yard but at the same time, Mrs Dubose is messing with Jem's pride in himself, family, and father. When he respects Atticus's order to apologize to Mrs. Dubose and knows it's the right thing to do to read to her for a month he goes and does it even though he didn't want to at all. So I think that when Atticus all of a sudden seemed to defend the lady that had teased, bickered, and called Jem's father a "nigger lover", Jem got confused and angry. He had ignored Mrs. Dubose's comments about his father because he knew that that's what Atticus wanted. But when Atticus started talking about how Mrs. Dubose was a courageous and brave women, It confused and angered him. Jem had had enough and could no longer bottle his feeling inside.
Atticus said that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew because of her moral standards and beliefs. He believes that bravery does not come from physical strength but from a certain mind set. Atticus believes that every person confronts challenges in their life where there’s no guarantee of victory but where it is important to fight no matter the odds. For Atticus, it is something obvious: defending a Black man in a racist community. For Ms. Dubose it is something much more personal and abstract but in a way it requires just as much bravery: the bravery necessary for an addict to say no.
“ Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
At first Jem believes, as most of us would, that it is not considered winning or even being brave dying with “ nothing and nobody,” but when he goes to bed he begins to understand the true meaning of bravery. Bravery is living life regardless of others. Bravery is not searching for acceptance; bravery is accepting your self. You can live with hate from others, but you can never really live hating your self. Despite completely disagreeing with Mrs. Dubose, Atticus believes she is brave if only because she lived and died upon her own terms. Bravery is found in Boo Radley’s attempt to reach out to children despite the hate of the community, not the ability to shoot a gun. When it comes down to it, I believe that Atticus is right, and bravery is found in thinking for your self and having the courage to act and live accordingly.
When Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose is the bravest person he know, he is referring to the fact that even though she knew she was going to die, she still made an effort to wean herself off of morphine. Even though Mrs. Dubose was a frail being, she still won in the end. Atticus says, “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.” This quote shows that even though might not have been strong physically, she still had the guts to go trying to stope her addiction. The quote also shows how anyone can choose to be brave, they just have to try very hard. After Atticus gives Jem this lecture, Jem burned the the box that Mrs. Dubose gave to him although he keeps the flower that came inside of it. Burning the box came as a shock to me because throughout the book, Jem has always been understanding. On the other hand, Jem kept the flower, meaning he was still considering forgiving Mrs. Dubose.
Atticus says this because really he admires her for what she had done throughout her lifetime. She had died without owning anybody anything. She was a drug addict but she was taking a legal drug that her doctor had given her. She stopped taking the medication before she died because she wanted to leave the world with nothing on her hands. She wanted to make it easier for herself. Jem was very upset, confused, and curious. He wondered why Mrs. Dubose would leave him alone. After Atticus tells Jem about what kind of person he thought she was Jem kind of disagrees. Jem is trying to see her as a whole other person than what he thinks she is. Helena
When Atticus hands Jem the box that contains the camellia, a sense of shock swarms over him. Jem had recently destroyed her camellias.
Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict. She was put on morphine in order to relieve her ailment. Her attitude towards society was negative since the battle that she was going through was likely going to give her a negative outcome. It did since she died.
"she was the bravest person I ever knew." The reason Atticus said this was because she knew that she was going to die, which is why she put herself on an excess amount of morphine. It seems like she wanted to die a pain-free death, which is sort of related to the idea of bravery.
After many different negative names that have been used against Atticus by Mrs. Dubose, it is shocking that he pitied her., by showering her with compliments to Jem and Scout after he found out she was dead.
Mrs. Dubose was a very honest person. If you were to walk by her house, she would feel free to praise you or insult you.
She has fought with her illness for a long time now, and yet she fights to stay alive. Jem mentions at some point that he thinks Mrs. Dubose can't be that sick becuase she yells insults at people. Since she is so oppinionated, she yells even if it hurts her. Here there are two examples why he may be the be bravest person in the world for Atticus. One, she has enough gut to tell people how she really thinks about them. The other, she continued to live her life even though she was really sick and pretended she wasn't sick. No one knows exactly what she was doing when she would rock her head back and forth and gather foam at the mouth, but everone knew it was bad. To hide something like that is hard and brave.
Jems reaction to Atticus when he threw the candy box in the fire but kept the flower to the look at is a symbol. I think it represents the anger they will be facing in the future. He is angrily throwing away the house of this flower, but keeping the flower to remember Mrs. Dubose and ponder on the fact that underneath the insults about Atticus, Scout, and himself, she might have been an important person in there lives.
Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose was a brave person because she would say really mean comments to people but she didn't care. She was old so nobody could really hurt her back and it would be rude to beat up an old lady. I think that Atticus said that "she was the bravest person I ever knew" to Jem and Scout so that they know that even though her comments might have been rude and obnoxious of her, she was still very brave to say them. I don't think that any other person in Maycomb would have had the guts to say that to the kids. Also Mrs. Dubose's morphine addicting was another thing Atticus was referring to. Being sick and old might have been the reason why she was always saying mean things to the Jem and Scout but she was strong willed. She knew that she was going to die but thats why she wanted Jem to read to her so she doesn't think about taking those drugs again. Jem was upset and scared a bit by having one of the camillas given back to him after he had smacked them to the ground. The meaning of the flower was to tell Jem that whatever Mrs. Dubose might have said that hurt his feelings is over. Now she has a clean slate when she dies. It was her peace offering to Jem, but he didn't respond to it well. He let his anger take over him (again). Jem doesn't want to accept her apology because she was really mean with those comments. Mrs. Dubose was rude to the kids but she was old and dying, so i think that she deserves a little more respect from Jem than she was getting. I would have been frustrated with her but since she is old, what are you going to do? It would be equally rude if Jem was talking back to her. He just really didn't think that Mrs. Dubose should get an apology from him because she is not worth it. - Brianna<3
47 comments:
At the end of Chapter 11, Atticus says “Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever knew” because he wanted his children to know that brave doesn’t always mean being physically strong or being able to shoot a gun, but being brave has allot to do with how emotionally strong you are. Mrs. Dubose, before she died, she wanted to end her addiction to pain killer so she could die free. Not many people do this. They give up and use their death as an escape. They don’t want to face the difficulties of ending an addiction.
At first, Jem was angry with Mrs. Dubose for leaving the camellia, and he thought she was just taunting him even after she was gone. He was upset and confused about why she would do this. However, she left the flower to tell Jem that everything was going to be okay. That she was not mad at him, but that she had gone on to a better place and she was finally happy. Atticus helped both Jem and Scout to realize this.
Later at night, Scout wakes up to fined Jem fingering the tiny flower. I think he finally appreciates Bubose’s message and that it was to him and no one ells. I think Jem felt special, but he also felt happy for her, and that she moved on without the pain of never ridding of her addiction. I think finally realizing that somebody was mean to you for a reason that you could never understand could be very sad. When Mrs. Dubose was yelling at Jem and telling him all of the things she hated about their father, it was because of the addiction and Jem never knew that when she was alive. He would just get mad right back. I think that when he realized that she didn’t really mean all of those things, he felt guilty of not only following his father’s wishes for him to behave like a gentlemen, but not being more kind and understanding to her. But she understands, and Jem knows that she’s in a better place.
Atticus is attempting to install in Jem a sense of empathy and tolerance when he states that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest woman he ever knew. Despite Mrs. Dubose’s outwardly irritable temperament, Atticus manages to see the positive traits that she possesses. It is because of the courage Mrs. Dubose exhibits (while battling her Morphine addiction) that Atticus acknowledges her as a dignified human being, thus he strives to assist her by pressuring Jem to offer her succor. Jem does not immediately understand why Atticus brings himself to show such compassion toward one who shows nothing but apathy toward others. But after Atticus’s explanation, Jem seems to gain a newfound tolerance of Mrs. Dubose as he does not reject her camellia, which was Mrs. Duboses’s way of show gratitude for Jem’s service. Throughout the story Atticus is portrayed as the “moral soul” who continues to act as a source of wisdom for both Jem and Scout. And it is because of Atticus’s drive for morality that both Jem and Scout are becoming more and more exposed to the sinister forces of Maycomb. The incident with Mrs. Dubose would have never occurred if Atticus had not began defending Tom Robinson. Therefore It can be inferred that if Atticus had never “meddled” In the affairs in of the town then it would never have “snowed in Maycomb,” The town would have remained in its dreary state and life would continue its monotonous cycle.
I think that this means that she had a strong heart. That she was fighting to stay alive. Also she was a morphine addict and when ever her alarm went off she would get drugs/pain killers.
Jem was very supprised because she has been very mean to to Scout and himself for years. And when he heard that she was a drug addict he understood a lot more because the morphine changed her brain.
Atticus say she is brave because of the things she says. She knows their rude and disrespectful but she could care less. She says what she thinks and doesn't get in trouble for it because she is old and sick. had a child or another adult said that they would have been hated. I don't consider her brave I consider her a coward.
Jem throws her box into the fire. This is his last sign of resentment toward her and telling her he does not accept her apology.
Hi, it's Kai W.
In chapter 11, Atticus states that Mrs. Dubose was "the bravest person he ever knew" I think he was referring to her fight with her addiction to morphine. She was cranky and old, she was frail and weak and yet she was strong willed enough to actually try to end her addiction, determined enough to keep on going. She was brave at heart and that is the important part.
Jem was upset, almost frightened by the camellia until Atticus explained it's true meaning. It wasn't a threat or a refusal to forget what he had done, it was a symbol of forgiveness. Her fight was over.
The kids are puzzled, because Mrs. Dubose was always quite rude to the Finches especially about Atticus’s involvement with Tom Robinson, however Jem slowly starts to see the flower as a gift. It was grouchy Mrs. Dubose’s last stand against her addiction and last tie to the earth. Mrs. Dubose’s addiction messed her up and Jem and Scout suffered her taunting for it, the camellia was almost an apology.
It's Cara!
I think that the reason why Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose was brave was because she was strong when it came to fighting to get off of morphine. Mrs. Dubose wanted Jem to read to her in order to distract her from the drug, and Atticus knows how she feels, since she is old and, like Sophie said, wants to get off of the morphine and die free without having "sinned."
Jem intensely dislikes Mrs. Dubose, so he hates why Atticus doesn't too. He throws the box into the fire, but keeping the camellia, as it probably reminds him of what he had done to the rest of Mrs. Dubose's camellias. Scout finds him fingering the petals before she went to bed.
I think the significance of the response is that even though she was mean to Scout and Jem, people should still feel pity for her, as she was old and on morphine and was trying to get off of it. Even though she was mean, she was mean because she was mad at herself.
Hi, its Stef
I think that Atticus says that Mrs. Dubos is the bravest person I know, because though she was a weak, old, mean woman, she knew that she was going to die very soon, she kept on living. I also think that she was brave, because if I know that if I was going to die in a few months, I would be very scared, and I would probably kill myself, so the fact that she just kept living, and tried to act normal, was very brave.
After Mrs. Dubose died, I think that Jem was somewhat confused, because he had just been reading this book to her, and once a month and one week went by, he thought he was free of his punishment of always having to read to her. After she dies, she leaves him the book, which I think confused him, because he thought that his punishment was over. After he finds the book, he finds a flower in the package, which, after Atticus's explanation, made him feel happy, because it was kind of a symbol that, even though he had this book, the flower told him that he was free, and everything was fine.
After Atticus and Jem talk, Scout goes to bed. She comes down, and sees Jem fingering the flower. I think that this is significant, because he finally sees that Mrs. Dubose wanted to make up with him, and that Jem was finally forgiving her for all of the mean things that she said to him.
Stef
In chapter 11, Atticus says about Mrs. Dubose, “she was the bravest person I ever knew." Atticus is referring to Mrs. Dubose’s boldness and her frank statements. He is also referring to Mrs. Dubose’s ENDEAVOR to get over her morphine addiction. In many cases, people often keep to themselves about what’s really on their mind and Mrs. Dubose wasn’t one of those cases. No matter how rude and/or her comments were, she was never afraid or timid about them. Also, she tried to overcome her morphine addiction which is not only brave, but ambitious, and very difficult to do. Instead of continuing her addiction, she listened to stories. The average addict might try to find a past-time other than overdosing, but soon realize that it’s too hard to quit, and then go back to overdosing.
When Jem broke Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes, he was angry about what she said about Atticus. His consequence wasn’t harsh in any way, he just had to read to her. I agree and disagree with Sophie. I agree that when someone is mean to you and you don’t understand why, it can make you sad, but I don’t think that applies to chapter 11. Jem’s punishment isn’t an act of “meanness”, but just a simple consequence for destroying her things (which he could be charged for)..
When Mrs Dubose dies shortly after Jem’s punishment is finished and Atticus explains unknown information about Mrs. Dubose, Jem gets sad. He realizes that he can never tell her sorry. He realizes that he can never really give her a heartfelt apology for breaking her things.
-Kai Marcel
I feel like Atticus said that Mrs. Dubose was very brave because she was a morphine addict, and she had all these problems based on her addiction. Atticus wanted to get the image in Jem's head that she was in great pain, that she was suffering. He knew that she was very ill and that Jem and Scout did not really understand why she had her fits. When Jem kills all her flowers because of what she said, its a sign that she was trying to communicate with him, but she just does not know how. When Jem is told to read to her for two hours a day from Monday to Saturday, he starts to get use to her and all her little fits. As a reply Jem thinks that she was just plain mean and that she never liked him. He never knew her illness would cause her little fits and her rude remarks. When she died and Jem got the little flower, he felt anger because he thought that she was trying to torment him even though she had died. The importance in his response was that he learned to deal with her and i would say, he kind of enjoyed reading to her, he became use to this plan and stared a new "life" with her, meaning that he tried to start over with her from scratch.
Isaiah
Jem responds to Atticus by throwing the empty box into the fire, But he kept the camellia inside. At first Jem was really infuriated, but then he realized the the full depth of what Atticus told him. I think he understands the true strength that Mrs. Dubose had to conjure to give up her addiction. When you are told you only have a few months to live you have a big choice to make, especially in Mrs. Dubose’s situation. She could either give up and sink back into her addiction, or she could go out fighting with a clean conscience. One of the most amazing things is this world is when people can overcome obstacles and defy the obstacles in their path. In the end Mrs. Dubose passed away with a free soul, and that means she was happy in the end. Jem saw behind her harsh words and was able to see the struggle she went through to leave the world smiling. At first Jem only saw the meanness in her but didn’t know the full affects of the situation and her addiction to Morphine. In would have been so easy to just let the pain slip away and slowly sink into oblivion. Mrs. Dubose pulled herself out of that dark place and was able to complete a nearly astounding feat. Jem learned a lot from her struggle adn her accomplishments.
At the end of chapter 11 Atticus says " Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person i knew". i think Atticus says this because he wanted to tell Scout and Jem that being brave has many definitions. you can be braver by trying to break a habit then being able to shoot a gun. Mrs. Dubose was a morphine( pain killer) addict. she had an addiction to drugs and she wanted to stop. she wanted to die free of having to do something without being able to stop. a lot of people think that it wont do any harm. they give up. Mrs. Dubose wanted to die free of what the normal thing people would do. she wanted to die with something to be proud of.in a way i can relate to Mrs. Dubose. she wanted to die with something to be proud of. she wanted to go to sleep feeling everything that should be accomplished for today is. when i have all my homework done and i have taken a bath and im in bed and im all prepared that makes me feel secure. i feel safe knowing everything is alright an im doing good i feel like i can go to bed at night without any worries. i think thats how Mrs. Dubose wanted to die. knowing that she has accomplished such a big goal can make her feel secure and feel as though she is leaving the world with something to look back on.
Jem was mad at Mrs. Dubose for giving him the camelia. he thought she wanted to keep on being mean to him even though she was dead. but she also left a flower saying she was not mad and everything was okay between them. later on Jem starts playing and fingering with the flower. i think that shows that he appreciates the flower and that he was not mad at Mrs. Dubose anymore.
"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 you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."
Even as a twelve year old, I can make an affrimative statement that life is not for the light at heart. Even through all of the joyous and fun moments, this book so far highlights the seriousness and reality of life.The reason why I bring this up is because life can be compared to a battlefield, and I'm order to survive, whatever your situation, you must be a brave warrior. As Atticus stated, bravery is not welding a gun in your hand. Not only in this novel, but in the media, I have learned that bravery is having great "natural" audacity (knowing how to verbally be brave).
Atticus brings Mrs. Dubose's death to realization at the end of this chapter. What is interesting, is that Jem actually ASKS about Mrs. Dubose's status before her death is revealed. Jem constantly contradicts Atticus's good words about Mrs. Dubose, prevantly bringing up the fact that Mrs. Dubose has shouted negative things about Atticus. Atticus explains the pain killer situation, and gives Jem the candy box that Jessie was ordered to make for Jem. Inside is a Snow-on-the-Mountain camellia. Jem is utterly disgusted and throws the CANDY BOX in the fire, not the CAMELLIA. This shows that Jem is somewhat affectionate with the gift. Scout later sees Jem "fingering the wide petals".
Jem's response is significant because it resembles respect, caring and understanding. Respect because even though Atticus told him to, Jem showed up at Mrs. Dubose's house EVERY DAY after school and Saturdays for two hours. He could have skipped a day, and may not have even received a "licking". It shows that Jem was not only respectful, bit also responsible. Caring because even though this is only text, we can tell that when Jem found out that Mrs. Dubose's death ("Oh. Well") was quit concerned. Also, he kept the camellia instead of pitching it in the fire. Understanding because he understood that Mrs. Dubose was in a had health state, was off pain killers, and was sick and tired.
Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose is brave because he wanted to teach his kids that brave doesn’t always come from one being able to stand up for one’s self, but being able to give something up or being able to try something new. I think that though she progressed slowly Mrs. Dubose tried something new by trying to be nice to the kids, and gave something up by giving her life so that she was free of the medicine.
Jem reacted to the speech and gift by throwing the box in the fire but keeping the camellia safe. I think this all matters because it symbolizes Jem’s feelings. When Jem throws the box into the fire I think that he is trying to show that he is still angry and confused, I think he feels that there is another message in Mrs. Dubose’s gift than her forgiving him, he feels that she is also trying to say sorry to him. When Jem keeps the camellia he is trying to show that he is thankful and forgives Mrs. Dubose.
Before Scout goes to sleep she sees Jem stroking the camellia. I think that Jem might have been stroking the camellia because he feels guilty and sad for Mrs. Dubose, Jem feels that he should have been able to have a nicer relationship with her and wishes that he could have wished her a happy afterlife or done something nice for her. I also think that Jem was happy for Mrs. Dubose for being able to be in a better place, and for being able to be brave enough to stop using the pain reliever.
At the end of Chapter 11, when Atticus says "Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever knew" Atticus was talking about internally. I agree with Sophie when she had said that being brave doesn't mean to be physically strong; it also means that you could be brave in the soul. While fighting her sickness, Mrs. Dubose had not acted as if she were in a lot of pain and suffrage, she had acted as if she was still very strong and even though teased Jem and Scout, she had held her head high. Because of the rudeness Mrs. Dubose had brought Jem and Scout, Jem had not cared for the death of her. When Atticus had told Jem how Mrs Dubose had felt, and of her suffrage and pain during the process of dying freely, Jem had changed his image of Mrs. Dubose. At first Jem is uneasy and not sure of how to think of Dubose, but when Atticus had given him the Camellia, Jem had returned to his hatred for Mrs. Dubose. Jem had thought that she was fooling with him even after she passed away, but Atticus had explained to Jem what the flower meant. The Camellia was a message to Jem saying that all of their past of arguing had been erased, and that their friendship had been renewed by the giving of this flower. I think that now becuase of this, Jem and Mrs. Dubose have a faint friendship, although she is no more in the living world, Jem appreciates what she had done.
I think in the recent chapters a major theme has been breaking rules and expectations. We talked about how Scout broke the rules and expectations of being a girl. Atticus is breaking the expectations of him by defending Tom Robinson. In this chapter I think Mrs. Dubose is not what most people classify as brave, but I believe Atticus is right when he says the Mrs. Dubose is very brave. Mrs. Dubose had been addicted to painkillers, but had fought through her pain to die “free”. I do not think this makes Jem like Mrs. Dubose but I think he wishes that he had been more respectful. His response is to keep her flower and to admire it and treat it nicely. I think he feels like he treated Mrs. Dubose like the flowers he destroyed in her garden, when he should have treated her like the way he treated the flower top she gave him: with respect.
At the end of chapter 11, Atticus says of Mrs. Dubose that "she was the bravest person I ever knew," because she views people differently. She thought a nigger lover was a bad thing, but it isn't for Atticus. He was also saying she disserves to be read to by Jem. To show Jem she has real courage for fighting death, by sing painkiller with only a few months to live. He wanted to show Jewhat real courge is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.
Jem response was to throw the candy box into the fire because he was angry. I think Jem then got mad that he didn't know why she was actually acting the way she was. Also his father wanted him to know "real" courage instead of what Jem thinks is cool and includes courage.
The signifigance of the response is that Atticus told Jem the true reason why he shouldnt be mad at Mrs.Dubose, so Jem got mad.
I agree with a lot of people. Mrs. Dubose fought hard through her Morphine addiction for many years. "According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody", Mrs. Dubose was unapologetic and opinionated, as shown by her blunt comments towards people, Atticus in particular. Jem responds to Atticus's comment by throwing the candy box Mrs. Dubose gave to him into the fire, though he is later seen handling the white carmelia she gave him. I'm not sure of the significance, his view of her has appeared to have been changed. Maybe it was a thanks to him for keeping her company in the lonely life she was probably living.
At the end of Chapter 11 Atticus says "Mrs. Doubse was the bravest person i ever knew" I think he wanted his kids to know that she has been through alot. Atticus wanted his kids to know what brave really was. Mrs. Doubse dieing was a way to say that she has been strong all these years and she had left the earth free and with nothing and no oneI think that Atticus was trying to say that she is brave for facing such a strong addiction. I think that Mrs. Doubse asked Jem to read to her because she wanted to get closer to him and know him better before she did pass away.
I think that the camellia in the candy box made jem think oh my gosh. I think Jem thought that the camellia was a way of saying just because I'm dead that doesn't mean that your work doesn't continue. I think that Jem was relieved to know that it ment now that i have passed away i am leaving free of troubles and free of problems. I think that it ment that every thing was all squared out.
Later that night Jem has the flower and he is holding it. I think that the flower made him feel special. I think that flower was a way of saying thanking you for what you have done. I think it made him feel special because after everything that him and Scout have been through Mrs. Doubse gave that flower to him.
Jem portrays Mrs. Dubose as someone who is weak and frustrating. In the middle of chapter 11, when Jem is agitated by Mrs. Dubose, he talks as if his reaction by killing her plants was out of supporting Atticus' cause. Atticus seems to be a peace-maker in this scenario, and says that he works to love anyone. He says that she is the bravest person, because of how much she has gone through. She asks Jem to read to her as a time for distraction from her addiction. Atticus' attitude towards Mrs. Dubose is a mere advocacy: he wants to let Jem know how wise she was through her rough period of time.
Jem throws the flower she gave him into the fire. We could see this as an act of resistance, or an act of sadness. He could be resisting the fact of her death, or what Atticus is saying. There is a sense that he feels that she is almost following him by giving him the flower. Getting rid of the flower is like getting rid of her permanently. Seeing it as an act of sadness is quite similar. He could have been attached to her, and wanted her out of his life forever. His response shows the more emotional side of Jem. Mrs. Dubose was not only harsh to him, but let us learn that Jem is similar to Atticus in terms of people: hes very caring.
Mrs. Dubose symbolizes a strong and caring women, mentally. Although she had taken morphine, I believe she knew the dangers of a morphine addiction. The fact that she was ready to take morphine was a reason for her bravery.
Another brave aspect was the fact she had Jem and Scout, "subjected to ruthless interrogation." (pg. 99). What this means is that Mrs. Dubose was brave enough to stand up to the children 'brave enough' to go into "Boo" Radley's yard.
In Maycomb, Dubose is the first person to outright comment in public about the children's actions. She also complains about Scout's actions as well. This shows a sense of bravery as apparently it is taboo in this community to talk about others.
Jem replies by first misunderstanding what the flowers meant. This is why he freaks out. The flower was an apology to Jem and only Jem. He was seen by Scout fingering the petal as to find something hidden. After a while of reading he realized Mrs. Dubose was not a bad person. That is what Atticus was trying to teach Jem. The box was burnt as it signified the hatred against the Finches. On the inside was the love and care. For example, The insulting, old, decrepit, Mrs. Dubose was a shell (the candy box) who was insulting to children. Candy is what children crave, but in the end it is just bad, (cavities and whatnot).
However, in the Candy Box is always a sweet thing, no matter the outcome. Jem fingering the flower was like eating candy and savoring it, because candy does not last forever.
When Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever met, Atticus is showing the inner side of Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict, which made her life extremely complex, and though Mrs. Dubose seemed tough, and harsh on the outside she was very fragile on the inside. sometimes being brave and having courage, does not that you have to be superman, it is possible to be brave by just surviving and not letting go to reality, by sticking to your believes. Mrs. Dubose was extremely brave because she choose to live the rest of her life basically morphine free, and that decision take extreme courage (since it means that she will live a major part of her life in pain.) When Atticus talks about Mrs. Dubose, he says "she was the bravest person I ever knew." Atticus truly makes a point.
In return to Atticus's saying about the brave Mrs. Dubose, Jem has a response that could be expected, but his response could also be passed as a complete surprise. Jem has no spoken response to Atticus, but both Scout and Atticus see that Jem has thought about what his father just said. By burning the candy box, I think Jem is symbolizing that he wants Mrs. Dubose to "leave him alone" but by keeping the camellia, I think Jem is also recognizing the importance of what he has learned about Mrs. Dubose in the past months. Jem's response symbols his understanding of live, death, and bravery.
What Atticus was referring to was Mrs. Dubose morphine addiction. She was old, sick, and cranky but she was strong and willed. She was brave and strong because she knew she was dying but she was going to fight to end her addiction even if she died trying. Getting Jem to read to her was something that was meant to get her mind off of the pain she was feeling. Every day she set the alarm clock, that determined when she would get medicine, later and later so that she would end up not wanting drugs anymore. Before Mrs. Dudose died she had her daughter cut the camellias that Jem re-grew and put them in a box for him. Jems reaction to this was one of frustration and fright but when Atticus explains to him that she meant the flowers and a symbol of forgiveness and a message that the fight was over. He took the camellia and silently went to bed.
When Atticus says that he thinks Mrs Dubose is brave, I think he says this because, like Sophie said that he was trying to show the children that brave doesn't always mean strong, as in physically strong, but it can mean strong as in doing what you feel you need to do no matter how hard it is.
I don't really think this makes Jem like Mrs Dubose, but it definetely seems like he begins to realizes he should have been more respectful. When Scout wakes up and finds Jem playing with the flower it seems clear that he finally understand the message.
The significance of this is that it shows a more emotional side of Jem. In the book, we mostly read about Scouts feelings and Jem's were never shared that often.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus says, “she was the bravest person I ever knew.” He is referring to Mrs. Dubose and how she had the courage to confront her problems and the will to express what she thought. I think that Atticus and Mrs. Dubose have some of the same qualities. They both fight for what they believe in, even though it may seem a losing battle. Mrs. Dubose speaks her mind freely like Atticus does. The first quality is to fight what you believe in. The next quality is pride and dignity. Mrs. Dubose ended her pain killer addiction even though she wasn’t going to live longer if she ended her addiction. Mrs. Dubose could have kept her addiction and her last part of her life would have been less painful, but she chose to have pride in herself before she died. This is like Atticus. He chose to defend Tom Robinson out of pride, even though the case might be a losing case and his friends and family might turn against him. This is a pride of being an honorable person. Atticus’s pride would be diminished if he didn’t do this case. He couldn’t even tell his children what to do if he did not represent Tom Robinson because he himself did not follow his obligations. Scout asks why Atticus is going through so much pain to defend this man. “For a number of reasons,” said Atticus. “The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” Mrs. Dubose sends a camellia to Jem just as she dies. Jem first reacts to the camellia by dropping it on the floor. He is scared. He first thinks it is a sign of revenge, but Atticus explains that the flower is a sign of forgiveness and tells Jem that she was the bravest person he ever knew. Jem, by picking up the camellia and admiring it, shows how he is admiring the great qualities of Mrs. Dubose. Atticus describes Mrs. Dubose as "the bravest person I ever knew." After telling how brave she was, Atticus says that being brave is not how many things you can hurt with a gun, but how you face the person with the gun. “She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe … son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her-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.”
When Scout and Jem learn that Atticus was the sharpest shooter in Maycomb, they gain a deep respect for him. Their respect comes from the depiction of a man carrying a gun as brave. A gun is not for the brave, but for those who need a sense of security. A gun is a source of comfort that enables you to face your fears. I don’t think that Miss Mauddie was saying the full truth when she said “I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things”. This may be true, but I believe he put the gun down when he saw it no longer as a sign of strength, but a sign of insecurity. When Atticus became a lawyer, he put his courage to the test. He argued his point without using the end of a gun to get his point across, which is a true sign of bravery.
In chapter 11, we meet Ms. DuBose; a cantankerous old southern lady, who rumor has it keeps a Confederate Army riffle under her shawl. She would always harass Jem and Scout whenever they passed by her door. They thought that she was the meanest lady in town. One day after she insulted Atticus, calling him a “nigger lover”, Jem lost his temper and destroyed her camellia bushes. Atticus made Jem go back to talk with her and as a result he had to go to read to her almost every day for a month. One night, shortly after Jem had finished his reading obligation, Atticus went back one night to see Ms. DuBose. When he came home, he told the children that she had just died.
Atticus wound up telling Jem and Scout that Ms. DuBose had been addicted to Morphine. She was old, sick, and in a lot of pain and a doctor had prescribed it for her. Ms. DuBose had already known from a few months before that she was going to die. She decided that she was going to overcome her addiction before she left this Earth. As Brittney quotes above, “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody.” This is why Atticus called her the bravest person he knew. She stood up to a terrible addiction in spite of all the pain and suffering so that she could check out as a free and whole person. This was a revelation to the kids as well. It was only emphasizing the message of civility that Atticus was trying to teach them. He was trying to teach the kids not to jump to conclusions too quickly and to avoid assumptions about people. Though Ms. DuBose may have been very difficult to overcome in her time of need, the children helped set her free of almost a magic curse set on her by the Morphine addiction. She went through a metamorphosis throughout the chapter. She was a caterpillar at the beginning. Through a long and painful process, she then blossomed into a beautiful butterfly. This process is one of will and courage overcoming the hardship of the transition. She was a soldier throughout by passing through these hardships. Her courageousness was defined not by any physical battle that she withstood, or by her personality, but by the battle of will against a drug. She cleansed herself before she left. If she had chosen to stay on Morphine, she would have been trapped in a mental jail cell, and so would her spirit, but by quitting, she set her spirit free to roam; and this is what defined her bravery.
Atticus says that Mrs.Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew because of the struggle she had with morphine. Atticus said she was brave because though she was a weak and sick old woman, she still had the audacity to try to overcome her addiction. Getting over addiction is a hard thing, simply because your body is addicted and feels that it is dependent on this source or substance.
Atticus mentions the idea of courage not involving a man holding a gun. He means that having courage or being brave doesn't mean you have to be violent or physical. To me, bravery is standing up for what is right or confronting one's fears. I feel that Atticus believes this too whether it is about Mrs.Dubose defeating her addiction, or standing up for african americans and those who think otherwise.
When Atticus hands Jem a box of camellias from Mrs.Dubose, he responds by calling her an "Old hell devil," and throwing the box into the fire but taking the camellias out. At first, I thought it showed cowardliness on Jem's part. I thought him throwing the box was a way of trying to forget her which would be the opposite of "facing fears." When I realized he took the camellias out of the box, it showed more of a sensitive side to Jem. You could tell he cared about Mrs.Dubose. It was also him accepting the message of the flowers. Atticus said that the flowers were a way of saying everything was alright now. Keeping the flowers went with this message.
Jem recieves a box filled with cotton and a camellia. A camellia is a white flower. This gift was from Mrs. Dubose, before she died, she gave it to Atticus for Jem. However when Jem recived this gift he got the wrong idea about it. He didn't understand why she kept on bothering him, why she wouldn't leave him alone. He sobbed into his father's arms not understanding why Mrs. Dubose was doing this. His father says That Jem was missunderstanding this gift. Atticus said that it wasn't to annoy him it was to tell him everything is ok. Almost like a way of Mrs Dubose saying she was sorry for calling their father names and ranting on about Jem being a bad child.
When Atticus says "she was the bravest person I ever knew." He's saying that she standed up to people who bothered her, aggravated her, or just people maybe and she did this by not physically hurting them, she used her words. She spoke what she wanted to say and sometimes those things were the most cruel things ever said, but that is how she fought, that was how she was brave. Being brave isn't all about your apperance, holding a gun in your hand shooting a mad dog. Sure that's brave, but realize it's when you've been hurt with all might in any type of way you're still hurt! "It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do." See now it's when you know you've already been defeated, but Mrs. Dubose always got to someone. That's why Jem destroyed her garden. All her name calling, all her ranting, all her unnecessary comments about Jem and Scout, had gotten in Jem's head and he couldn't take it.
How many people do you know sit on their porch or maybe out their window or where ever, start yelling to their neighbors saying how horrible they are or calling them names, but no one has ever stood up to them. Well think about it, there aren't many people you meet like that. Mrs. Dubose is one of them though and calling random people names not caring what they feel about them, wouldn't that be called barvey?
The reason for Atticus to tell his children that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person ever known to him is to show them that she was brave in defending her beliefs. She thought that Scout and Jem were rude and nasty people, and that Atticus was a black lover. I believe she was well aware of causing other people much misery and what she said hurt Jem and Scout's feelings to the core, but like Atticus she was independent; she did not live to rely on making others think her as a good person. She lived to believe in herself, and be herself. Atticus did not want his kids to believe that a person was strong and brave because of his talents and how he excels at what everyone is unable to do, gaining their appreciation and praise, but that a person is strong for being unaffected and unchanged by other people's views.
When Jem threw the candy box into the fire, it meant that he despised Dubose's public image, her cover, but later, he appreciated and understood the petals of the camellia, showing that he understood Mrs. Dubose's heart, her true vision. Being mean and nasty was not what she was doing. She was doing something far greater-being herself, unaffected by the outside world.
When Atticus says "Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person I ever knew", I think what he meant was that she was a fighter. Though she had her crazy, neurotic, cantankerous personality, she was still trying to fight her addiction to morphine by reading.
Jem's attitude towards Mrs. Dubose changes drastically in this chapter. Jem was first upset with Mrs. Dubose because she said Atticus was not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for". That was the bomb that set Jem off. A few weeks later when Mrs. Dubose is slowly getting sicker, Jem finds out all of this information about Mrs. Dubose such as her addiction and her effort to combat the addiction. Soon after that, Atticus gives Jem a box that Mrs. Dubose had given her maid for Jem; a white camilla was in the box.
In the end of chapter 11, Atticus seems to show a special interest in Mrs. Dubose's characteristics. He describes her sickness and explains how hard it is for people to overcome addictions like Mrs. Dubose's. I think that Atticus showed this special attention to her because he was, in a way, awed by her strong will. It intrigued him to know what kind of a person she was, different from others with her unique opinions, outgoing mind, and ability to overcome sicknesses. Atticus wanted to show that behind all of her ugly perspectives, Mrs. Dubose was this strong women and he wanted to state the fact that he thought she was very brave and that he in a way respected her courage.
In response, Jem angrily throws the gift of candies into the living-room fire. I think that he has such strong negative feeling about Mrs. Dubose that they can't be undone, even by Atticus's interesting point of view and example. There is a sense of pride and of what is right and wrong that goes through Jem in this chapter. He know's that it is wrong to ruin Mrs. Dubose's front yard but at the same time, Mrs Dubose is messing with Jem's pride in himself, family, and father. When he respects Atticus's order to apologize to Mrs. Dubose and knows it's the right thing to do to read to her for a month he goes and does it even though he didn't want to at all. So I think that when Atticus all of a sudden seemed to defend the lady that had teased, bickered, and called Jem's father a "nigger lover", Jem got confused and angry. He had ignored Mrs. Dubose's comments about his father because he knew that that's what Atticus wanted. But when Atticus started talking about how Mrs. Dubose was a courageous and brave women, It confused and angered him. Jem had had enough and could no longer bottle his feeling inside.
Atticus said that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew because of her moral standards and beliefs. He believes that bravery does not come from physical strength but from a certain mind set. Atticus believes that every person confronts challenges in their life where there’s no guarantee of victory but where it is important to fight no matter the odds. For Atticus, it is something obvious: defending a Black man in a racist community. For Ms. Dubose it is something much more personal and abstract but in a way it requires just as much bravery: the bravery necessary for an addict to say no.
“ Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
At first Jem believes, as most of us would, that it is not considered winning or even being brave dying with “ nothing and nobody,” but when he goes to bed he begins to understand the true meaning of bravery. Bravery is living life regardless of others. Bravery is not searching for acceptance; bravery is accepting your self. You can live with hate from others, but you can never really live hating your self. Despite completely disagreeing with Mrs. Dubose, Atticus believes she is brave if only because she lived and died upon her own terms. Bravery is found in Boo Radley’s attempt to reach out to children despite the hate of the community, not the ability to shoot a gun. When it comes down to it, I believe that Atticus is right, and bravery is found in thinking for your self and having the courage to act and live accordingly.
When Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose is the bravest person he know, he is referring to the fact that even though she knew she was going to die, she still made an effort to wean herself off of morphine. Even though Mrs. Dubose was a frail being, she still won in the end. Atticus says, “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.” This quote shows that even though might not have been strong physically, she still had the guts to go trying to stope her addiction. The quote also shows how anyone can choose to be brave, they just have to try very hard. After Atticus gives Jem this lecture, Jem burned the the box that Mrs. Dubose gave to him although he keeps the flower that came inside of it. Burning the box came as a shock to me because throughout the book, Jem has always been understanding. On the other hand, Jem kept the flower, meaning he was still considering forgiving Mrs. Dubose.
Atticus says this because really he admires her for what she had done throughout her lifetime. She had died without owning anybody anything. She was a drug addict but she was taking a legal drug that her doctor had given her. She stopped taking the medication before she died because she wanted to leave the world with nothing on her hands. She wanted to make it easier for herself. Jem was very upset, confused, and curious. He wondered why Mrs. Dubose would leave him alone. After Atticus tells Jem about what kind of person he thought she was Jem kind of disagrees. Jem is trying to see her as a whole other person than what he thinks she is.
Helena
When Atticus hands Jem the box that contains the camellia, a sense of shock swarms over him. Jem had recently destroyed her camellias.
Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict. She was put on morphine in order to relieve her ailment. Her attitude towards society was negative since the battle that she was going through was likely going to give her a negative outcome. It did since she died.
"she was the bravest person I ever knew." The reason Atticus said this was because she knew that she was going to die, which is why she put herself on an excess amount of morphine. It seems like she wanted to die a pain-free death, which is sort of related to the idea of bravery.
After many different negative names that have been used against Atticus by Mrs. Dubose, it is shocking that he pitied her., by showering her with compliments to Jem and Scout after he found out she was dead.
Mrs. Dubose was a very honest person. If you were to walk by her house, she would feel free to praise you or insult you.
She has fought with her illness for a long time now, and yet she fights to stay alive. Jem mentions at some point that he thinks Mrs. Dubose can't be that sick becuase she yells insults at people. Since she is so oppinionated, she yells even if it hurts her. Here there are two examples why he may be the be bravest person in the world for Atticus. One, she has enough gut to tell people how she really thinks about them. The other, she continued to live her life even though she was really sick and pretended she wasn't sick. No one knows exactly what she was doing when she would rock her head back and forth and gather foam at the mouth, but everone knew it was bad. To hide something like that is hard and brave.
Jems reaction to Atticus when he threw the candy box in the fire but kept the flower to the look at is a symbol. I think it represents the anger they will be facing in the future. He is angrily throwing away the house of this flower, but keeping the flower to remember Mrs. Dubose and ponder on the fact that underneath the insults about Atticus, Scout, and himself, she might have been an important person in there lives.
Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose was a brave person because she would say really mean comments to people but she didn't care. She was old so nobody could really hurt her back and it would be rude to beat up an old lady. I think that Atticus said that "she was the bravest person I ever knew" to Jem and Scout so that they know that even though her comments might have been rude and obnoxious of her, she was still very brave to say them. I don't think that any other person in Maycomb would have had the guts to say that to the kids. Also Mrs. Dubose's morphine addicting was another thing Atticus was referring to. Being sick and old might have been the reason why she was always saying mean things to the Jem and Scout but she was strong willed. She knew that she was going to die but thats why she wanted Jem to read to her so she doesn't think about taking those drugs again.
Jem was upset and scared a bit by having one of the camillas given back to him after he had smacked them to the ground. The meaning of the flower was to tell Jem that whatever Mrs. Dubose might have said that hurt his feelings is over. Now she has a clean slate when she dies. It was her peace offering to Jem, but he didn't respond to it well. He let his anger take over him (again). Jem doesn't want to accept her apology because she was really mean with those comments. Mrs. Dubose was rude to the kids but she was old and dying, so i think that she deserves a little more respect from Jem than she was getting. I would have been frustrated with her but since she is old, what are you going to do? It would be equally rude if Jem was talking back to her. He just really didn't think that Mrs. Dubose should get an apology from him because she is not worth it.
- Brianna<3
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