Dubose's Abuse

Improved Essays
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author tells a story about a widowed attorney and his two kids. They all reside in Maycomb, Alabama during the period of the Great Depression. Scout and Jem Finch learned the lesson to not judge others very quickly in the book. The children learn this lesson through and elderly neighbor, by the name of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. Mrs. Dubose reveals the theme that any negative judgement and/or racism towards someone’s outside appearances are detrimental to one’s mental stability. Mrs. Dubose plays the role of their neighbor that lives down the street and has acquired the reputation of being hateful, constantly agitated and extremely racist. Because of her traits Jem and Scout …show more content…
Dubose had passed away a few moments prior. When Jem had first found this out he still had held a strong grudge against her because of their past. Atticus had went on to enlighten Jem of Mrs. Dubose’s morphine addiction. At the time, much hadn’t made any sense to Jem, in fact this information had seemed extraneous. This went on until his father explained that her life goal recently became to not be indebted to anyone or anything. Therefore Mrs. Dubose had wanted to break her addiction before passing away. Jem realized that him being forced to read to her was not initially meant for true punishment, but because Atticus knew she needed them reading as a distraction. She became less dependent on the morphine over time and once she achieved this goal she felt she could at last pass away. Mrs. Dubose, throughout the few chapters she was playing an active role, had built up a very important theme that Scout and Jem followed; this theme to respect everyone and to not be disrespectful to anyone because of their outside appearances or their race. The theme that Mrs. Dubose provides this early in the book is then later seen throughout the book and becomes very relevant in Scout and Jem’s choices. Mrs. Dubose appears as a minor character until looking deeper it becomes clear she affects a large portion of To Kill a

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