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Another character from To Kill A Mockingbird who shows courage is Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose is a grumpy neighbor of the Finch’s who forces Jem and Scout to read to her after Jem destroys her bushes. Later we find out that Mrs. Dubose was trying to wean off of morphine before she died and was using the kids as a distraction from the pain. In fact, that’s one of the ways Mrs. Dubose shows courage, she knew that the weaning process would be extremely painful and unpleasant and yet she was determined to go through with it and rid herself from the addiction. Another reason that this was courageous is because she knew that in the end she was going to die, she knew that she wasn’t helping herself live longer by breaking her addiction yet, she went…
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Courage is characterized as mental or moral strength to surpass notions of fear. As demonstrated by Atticus Finch and Mrs Dubose in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the development of courage gives the character’s strength and courage to hold their heads high, while fearing none. Harper Lee depicts the theme of courage incalculable amount of times, detailing courage as “ when you know you’re licked before you being, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” (Chapter 11, Page 124) All of the characters have an alternate kind of perspective of what courage is exactly, which will be examined in depth.…
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As Jem and Scout grow up in the Maycomb community, they begin to learn and understand people’s views in the community and how they contradict their father Atticus’s views. The largest part of the courage is presented in Atticus as he is fighting a lost battle. Characters that appear later also present courage such as Boo Radley and Mrs. Dubose. Jem demonstrated acts of courage in many ways throughout the novel. A good example would be when Dill made a bet with Jem for him to touch the Radley house. Jem showed courage here as he took on the bet although he was frightened but decided to go along with it to show that he was courageous. Later in chapter 6, Jem (accompanied by Dill) got close enough to the Radley house to actually look inside the window. This shows courage as Jem and Dill know that theres a chance of getting caught. (Which they did). Later in the same chapter Jem Returned to the Radley Place to get back his pants which is yet another act of courage. This was fuelled by the possible disappointment of Atticus once Jem would have had to explain to him what happened. To not disappoint and face up to Atticus, Jem had no choice but to return to the Radley house being fully aware of the dangers once again. Five…
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Courage is a powerful ability that can help those at the right time and place. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird there are many chapters who display the theme of courage. Atticus Finch shows the gift of determination through the book. Secondly, Mrs. Dubose who has a morphine addiction fights with endurance and firmness. In contrast, Boo Radley who has the fortitude to fight a man with a knife is a heroic and a fearful moment in the novel. Given theses points Atticus, Mrs Dubose, and Boo Radley are all a symbol of courage.…
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Mrs. Dubose is not as brave as Atticus says. While Jem and Scout are walking into town, Mrs. Dubose says, “Your father’s no better than the n****** and the trash he works for!” Mrs. Dubose says this to hurt the children's feelings. Later Atticus refers to Mrs. Dubose as brave, but I would consider this anything but brave. She is going out of her way to hurt the feelings of defenseless children.…
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He wanted Jem to get to know Mrs. Dubose not as an angry old lady but as a human being who has had a very tough life. Atticus is always polite to Mrs. Dubose, despite her rudeness. He is polite to everyone. The encounter Jem has with Mrs. Dubose’s flowers gives Atticus an opportunity to teach his children responsibility, but after her death he also lets them know why he considers her such a courageous person. After Jem destroys her flowers, Atticus has him go to read to her. He later explains that he wanted his children to see what real courage is. Sometimes courage is mental as well as physical. Mrs. Dubose was addicted to painkillers, and she wanted to wean herself off of them before she died. She was having Jem read to her so that she could have a distraction. Jem did not know any of this until later, but Atticus knew that he could explain it and Jem would understand. “You rarely win, but sometimes you do. 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.” (112). Mrs. Dubose was an underdog. She was addicted to morphine, but she kicked the habit. What she did took immense courage. Atticus wanted his children to see that sometimes you can win an unwinnable fight, and sometimes just trying to win when it seems impossible is courageous. Atticus himself was facing an uphill battle that would require courage…
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Dubose displays courage in the short part of the novel she’s in. “ ‘Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict,’ said Atticus. ‘She took it as a pain-killer for years. The doctor put her on it. She’d have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, but she was too contrary-’ “ (Lee, 147). Mrs. Dubose wanted to die free, she wanted to die real. Mrs. Dubose sacrificed dieing in physical pain so she could have mental peace. Mrs. Dubose believed it was more important to die clean that it was to die painless. Mrs. Dubose is courageous because she knew living the last of her life clean would be painful but she still decided to do it because she knew it was the right thing to do. Mrs. Dubose rather have a good mental while she was dying then be on drugs and pain…
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Knowing she was "licked" before she began, Mrs. Dubose resists her yearnings for morphine and dies "beholden to nothing and nobody" (p. 112), winning the epic battle of will power over temptation. Although, the author paints a very ugly portrait of Mrs. Dubose, one sees a silver lining in her strength and self-motivation. It seems that Mrs. Dubose's lesson of bravery was remembered over her cruel and hideous remarks. Similar to Mrs. Dubose's fight with temptation, Scout resists her desire to act with her fists while defending her father's name. Its evident that through her self-restraint Scout takes a step further out of childhood. Scout's lesson is one all learn, that fighting doesn't take you a step further in life, only a step back. Giving into temptation is all to easy, many find it hard to say no, but Scout and Mrs. Dubose find strength in themselves and in others to stand…
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The first way courage is shown in the book is by pain. One of the main characters that expresses courage through pain is Mrs. Dubose, because she was an addict trying to overcome her morphine addiction. People like Scout and Jem always thought she was just being rude, but she was actually using that anger, and hatred towards others to help her mind forget about her addiction. As Atticus says to Jem…
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Dubose. In the book Miss. Dubose reveals herself as a nasty old lady,but in reality she showed real signs of courage leading up to her death. When she died Atticus sits down and explains what happened to Miss. Dubose to Scout and Jem. “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. I wanted to show you what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hands”( 148). Atticus reveals to both Scout and Jem that Miss. Dubose showed real courage because even though she was addicted to morphine she wanted to live the rest of her life clean. Miss. Dubose wanted to not let the addiction of morphine have a hold on her entire life;this showed Jem and Scout what the true meaning of courage is. In addition, Atticus is a living example of courage not only through his work with the Tom Robinson case,but also his reaction to Bob Ewell’s threats. During the trial Atticus had been encountered by Mr. Ewell and was harassed by him. When Mr. Ewell accosts Atticus in the street and spits on him Atticus simply responds,“ I wish Bob Ewell wouldn’t chew tobacco”(217) He again demonstrates to Scout that it is not proper to act in the same manner as Bob Ewell. He does something much more courageous by walking away from Bob’s threats. Though his understanding of which battles to fight and always doing the right thing no matter what it costs…
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In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem shows courage every day to his sibling and friends and other townspeople. Lee tries to show that courage can be defined in many different ways, and that courage doesn't have to mean that a person is brave, although it can be someone who is brave. Through Jem Lee can show what courage can really means, by Jem`s actions and by how he is seeing about the world around him. Jem Protects his sister and Dill constantly, and he learned to do that from Atticus and now he is teaching Scout and Dill how to act. He will respect adults, yet when he is in danger with another adult he will do whatever it takes to protect his family.In the novel, courage is when someone is willing to do anything to help someone…
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Dubose lives her life in spite of her illness shows courage. Ms. Dubose is an older lady that is sick and close to death. She is mean and always sits on her porch making fun of Jem and Scout when they walk by. Due to her illness she has taken painkillers for many years. Ms. Dubose decides to stop taking the medicine so that she can be fully coherent. This courageous decision shows that she is willing to fight through intense pain to live the last months of her life. Atticus says, “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody.”…
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One of these people was Mrs. Dubose, who was one of the eldest and most sick of the town. She was extremely prejudiced against black people and deeply despised Atticus for defending a black man in court. However, Atticus was polite and respectful to her no matter how many slurs she threw at him, and Scout took notice. She said, “It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived” (134). Scout thought Atticus was brave for taking on this bully, not by revolting, but by means of respect. He faced Mrs. Dubose with pride and brushed off any taunt she had for him. Scout held this characteristic in high esteem and knew he was a courageous man.…
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When Jem is dared to touch the Radley house it is coupled with him not thinking about the repercussions of cutting Ms. Dubose’s flowers by them both displaying physical courage. Jem is considered ignorant, by him not considering there to be an additional courage. Scout equally exhibits a physical courage through not understanding that words are more effective than brute force. Given that when coming upon Atticus in a compromising situation at the jail house “[she] kick[s] the man swiftly”, thinking that was the most plausible way to handle the situation. Perceiving fighting to be more effective than communication leaves Scout morally incapable. Jem takes into mind moral courage. As a result of Ms. Dubose halting her morphine addiction Jem takes care of her when she was experiencing immense pain. Significantly Jem learnt through Ms. Dubose the true meaning of courage while Atticus additionally explains that “[he] wanted [him] to see real courage.” Scout learns the effectiveness in rationally talking to someone rather than using violence to solve a problem. The physical courageous Scout displayed at the jail house, is followed with her subduing the mob with innocent small talk. By listening to Atticus’ lecture Scout shied away from fighting causing Scout to grasp the importance of emotional…
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Although they all knew they may fail in their fights, their courage gave them the power to continue on bearing the suffering and hardship. Another shared quality is that, through their fights, they were trying to correct something wrong in their lives. Atticus tried to drive out prejudice ,while Mrs. Dubose tried to quit using morphine, while Boo Radley tries to break his long isolation. Another similarity is that the three of them set a goal they aimed to achieve, Atticus wanted to achieve justice through standing up for what he thinks is right no matter what others believe , while Mrs. Dubose aimed to achieve internal peace through her determination to leave this world free of addiction, Boo Radley wanted to achieve happiness through breaking his isolation and observing the children playing by his house and leaving them little gifts. All of them succeeded to achieve their goals and live their pure lives even for short period of time. However The differences between the courage of Atticus , Mrs. Dubose , and Boo Radley that Atticus proceeded to fight for the sake of his children rather than for himself. It was his own desire to raise Scout and Jem with honesty and respect "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 county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again"( Lee,75). Moreover , each one of them demonstrates his courage on different levels; Atticus showed his courage on a moral level, Mrs.Dubose showed her courage on physical level, while Boo Radley performs his courage on a social…
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