Classwork – 2/3/15

Courage is presented by Harper Lee in chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird, through the introduction and demise of Mrs Dubose. In her short-lived stint in the novel, Mrs Dubose is presented as a senile old lady, but as the chapter eleven draws to a close, Atticus reveals the true nature of her inner suffering. These revelations morph the perception of Mrs Dubose from that of an antagonising old woman, to that of a heroine. Her desire to come off morphine before her death leads Atticus to hail her ‘the bravest person he ever knew’, and challenges the children’s earlier views of Mrs Dubose.