What makes the children hate and fear Mrs. Dubose in Chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Mrs. Dubose represents the way most of the town feels
about the trial. She is an old woman who continuously yells at Jem and Scout as they
pass by her house. The children are afraid of her because of the yelling and they are
afraid that she might actually call to them. Jem and Scout usually just ignore her, but
they don't like her very much.

Mrs. Dubose makes a nasty
comment to Jem and Scout about Atticus being just like the blacks by taking Tom's case.
When Jem hears this he becomes angry. He destroys her bushes in a fit of anger. Atticus
has warned Jem to be a gentleman with her, but Jem lets his anger get the better of him.
As a punishment Jem has to go and read to her everyday after school. This makes Scout
dislike her even more because she feels that Mrs. Dubose has taken away her time with
Jem. Scout goes with Jem as he reads to her. Mrs. Dubose is a woman in her nineties, and
unknown to Jem and Scout, has an addiction to morphine. Mrs. Dubose has vowed to get off
of it before she dies. She uses Jem as a way to help keep her mind off the medicine for
longer periods of time, until she can finally die addiction
free.

"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. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest
person I ever knew."

Atticus
says this to Jem because he wants him and Scout to realize what kind of person Mrs.
Dubose really is. He admires the old woman and wants his children to see the real Mrs.
Dubose. He teaches them that you don't always have to like someone to admire and respect
them, and that is exactly what Jem and Scout learn from Mrs.
Dubose.