In Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird, Jem and Scout pass Mrs. Dubose' house one day, and the old woman
insults Atticus. Passing by her home again later—when no one is on the porch—Jem
destroys all of the buds and blooms on Mrs. Dubose's prized
camellias.
When Atticus finds out, first he makes Jem
returns to Mrs. Dubose and faces up to what he has done. Then Jem must spend time each
day after school reading to Mrs. Dubose. (Scout chooses to accompany him.) It often
seems that Mrs. Dubose is not listening, and they are released only when an alarm clock
rings in her room. As the days go by, the time they spend there gets longer as they wait
for the clock to ring. Finally, there is no ringing—Mrs. Dubose dismisses
them.
It is only later that Atticus tells Scout and Jem
that Mrs. Dubose was trying to fight off an addition to morphine, a pain medication.
Each day she lasted a little longer until she no longer needed the medication. Even
though she was still fighting a painful disease, she chose to live the rest of her life
on her terms, without being dependent upon drugs. She was a tough woman, and not very
nice, but she was brave and determined. After her death, Atticus says that Mrs. Dubose
was the bravest woman he had ever met—high praise from Atticus.
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