TKaM part I writing plan

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What is Harper Lee's purpose for introducing the character of Mrs. Dubose in To Kill a Mockingbird?

We meet Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose in chapter eleven of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and it is not a particularly pleasant meeting. The old woman is cranky and cruel as she sits on her porch and viciously insults all of the Finches every time they pass by her.

Of course we know that Jem loses his temper one day and damages some of Mrs. Dubose's flowers. As a punishment, Jem has to go and read to the old lady, and that is not a pleasant task, either. Later we learn that the old woman was addicted to morphine as a painkiller and determined to break free of the addiction before she died.

The answer to your question about why the author included Mrs. Dubose in the novel comes from Atticus as he is talking to Jem after Mrs. Dubose died. It is interesting to note that this chapter on Mrs. Dubose follows the chapter in which Atticus demonstrate courage by facing down a rabid dog in the middle of the street. While this is one kind of courage, Atticus wants his children, and Jem in particular, to understand about other kinds of courage. Atticus says:

"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. 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. 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.”

Harper Lee includes this episode with Mrs. Dubose as part of an ongoing theme expressed in the novel, again through Atticus. In chapter three, he explains to Scout that

"you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-”

“Sir?”

“-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Jem's encounter with Mrs. Dubose is designed to teach him this same lesson. There was a reason for the woman's crankiness and bad behavior, something neither Jem nor Scout could see but which Atticus was able to understand--and even overlook--because he saw things from Mrs. Dubose's point of view. Though it is not clear that Scout understood all of this, Jem is moved by the lesson.

In Chapter 9 of To Kill a Mockingbird, what unpleasant trait about Aunt Alexandra does Francis reveal to Scout?

In Chapter 9, the Finches celebrate the holidays together at Finch's Landing and Scout is forced to spend time with her ignorant, arrogant cousin, Francis Hancock. After dinner, Francis and Scout go outside, and Francis makes several derogatory comments about Dill and Atticus. Francis repeats what his grandmother, Alexandra, has said about Atticus which reveals Alexandra's ugly prejudice towards African Americans.

The Finches celebrate the holidays together at Finch's Landing and Scout is forced to spend time with her ignorant, arrogant cousin, Francis Hancock. After dinner, Francis and Scout go outside, and Francis makes several derogatory comments about Dill and Atticus. Francis repeats what his grandmother, Alexandra, has said about Atticus which reveals Alexandra's ugly prejudice towards African Americans. Francis tells Scout that Alexandra said that it was bad enough that Atticus let his children run wild, but now that he has turned out to be a "nigger-lover," their family will not be able to walk the streets of Maycomb anymore. Aunt Alexandra's racial slur reveals her racism. She disapproves of Atticus defending a black man and calls her own brother a "nigger-lover." Scout immediately takes offense to Francis' comments and punches him in the face when she gets her chance.

Aunt Alexandra seems to be a woman who talks behind the backs of other people. Francis, Alexandra's son, tells Scout that his mother said, "Atticus 'let’s you all run wild' and 'now he’s turned into a nigger-lover. . . .'.

This paints a new picture of Alexandra, who has been trying to seem like see supports her brother. Francis' comments make Atticus seem like a bad father and makes Alexandra seem like a racist. Scout reacts by fighting with Francis. Uncle Jack spanks Scout for fighting. But the real cause of the fight is Alexandra's loose tongue in front of her son and her true attitudes about Atticus' actions.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what is the significance of Scout's fight with Francis to the greater context of the book?

Scout's fight with her Cousin Francis is not one of the significant events in the novel--aside from it proving that she has a strong left-handed punch--but it does serve several purposes. It is the last time that Scout uses her fists in anger (though she does land a strategic kick to the groin to one of the men in the lynch mob the following summer). It teaches her Uncle Jack to make sure he learns all of the facts before dealing out punishment; and it serves to show that Jack is a man of his word, since he honors Scout's request to refrain from telling Atticus about the insults Francis has made.

Uncle Jack was a prince of a fellow for not letting me down. (Chapter 9)

It also allows Scout, who believes she is hidden from view, to listen in on Atticus's and Jack's conversation in which Atticus deliberately lets her hear their talk about the trial, and how he hopes

"... that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough..." (Chapter 9)

Scout also learns a lesson in how Atticus has an uncanny ability to discover many of his children's secrets.

... I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said. (Chapter 9)

What do Scout's thrashings of Walter Cunningham and Francis foreshadow in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout is young, and like many young people she sometimes has trouble handing her temper. This often results in her getting into fights when she does not like what people say about her. The problem Scout has is that her father is defending a black man, and most people in Maycomb are racist and do not approve.

Scout’s conflict with Walter Cunningham is evidence of the fact that people in Maycomb are against Atticus defending his client. Atticus was appointed to defend Tom Robinson for the rape allegation, but he would have done it anyway, even though most of the rest of Maycomb has convicted Robinson in the court of public opinion.

Atticus tells Scout to avoid fighting and be the bigger person, but she says that she soon forgot.

Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers. I denied it, but told Jem.

“What’d he mean sayin‘ that?” I asked. (Ch. 9)

Cecil’s reaction is the same as the reaction of most of the town. It demonstrates that even children in Maycomb believed that the trial was a foregone conclusion. Scout had no idea what Cecil Jacobs was talking about, but she fought him anyway to defend her family’s honor.

Scout even has trouble with her own family. She learns that Aunt Alexandra also does not approve of Atticus’s actions, and Frances's comments about her father also cause Scout to get into a fight.

“If Uncle Atticus lets you run around with stray dogs, that’s his own business, like Grandma says, so it ain’t your fault. I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family—” (Ch. 9)

Certain family members believe that Atticus is hurting the family name just by defending a black man. Atticus does not care what they think, because he believes in giving the case everything he has regardless of how futile the outcome. He tells Scout there is no way he can win, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try.

The trial, and Atticus’s loss of the case, is foreshadowed by these fights. It is through these altercations that Scout has that we learn how the people of Maycomb feel about African Americans and Tom Robinson’s case. He is a black man accused of raping a white woman, and as far as they are concerned just being accused makes him guilty.

In "To Kill a Mockingbird" why is Mrs. Dubose such a "great lady" and how does that tie in to Atticus defending Tom Robinson?

Atticus said that Mrs. Dubose was a great lady because she was struggling to overcome a debilitating addiction, and she decided to do it cold turkey, alone, at the end of her life. She wanted "to leave this world beholden to nothing," and so decided to break her morphine addict. He said that she demonstrated true courage, which was "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." And that is exactly what Mrs. Dubose did; she undertook the fight to break her habit even though the odds of really breaking it were very slim, but she did it anyway. It was hard, very hard, but she stuck it out, and that is why she was such a great lady.