Although the movie and book, To Kill a Mockingbird, are based off of the same storyline, they have some very key differences. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic novel about the childhood of two children, Jean Louise and Jem, who live with their father, Atticus Finch. This captivating story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression and was written in 1960. This novel teaches readers a great deal about society and life during the Great Depression. The differences found between Harper Lee’s book and Robert Mulligan’s movie are countless and have a great impact on the theme and plot. Mrs. Dubose is an indispensable character in this novel because she taught Jem many lessons that helped him mature. Such as when Mrs. Dubose taught Jem what real courage is; that real courage is fighting on and sticking to your …show more content…
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” (Lee 149). Additionally, Mrs. Dubose taught Jem to control his emotions and restrain himself. Before Mrs. Dubose taught Jem how to control his emotions, he dealt with his anger by using physical aggression. An example of this is when Mrs. Dubose insulted Atticus, “Jem did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off of every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned” (Lee 137). However, after Mrs. Dubose taught Jem this valuable lesson, whenever she insulted the Finch family, black people, or his father, “Jem’s chin would come up, and he would gaze at Mrs. Dubose with a face devoid of resentment...which he would present to her in answer to her most blood-curdling inventions” (Lee 146). Although Mrs. Dubose plays a very vital role in the novel, the same is
(Lee 133). This quote shows how rude Mrs.Dubose could be to Atticus’s children, but Atticus is still kind to her, and he sees the courage that Mrs.Dubose has, and tries to show Jem too. After Jem finishes his month of reading to her, Atticus tells Jem the real reason that Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose. Atticus informs Jem that “‘I wanted you to see what real courage is’” (Lee 149).
As most everyone knows, there are differences between a book and it’s movie adaptation. This is applicable to the book and it’s movie counterpart To Kill a Mockingbird, as well. But aside from the differences, there are also similarities between these two.
Jem proves Mrs. Dubose’s courage when he describes her after seeing her up close for the first time by saying: “but she’s so nasty. She has fits or something. She spits a lot” (124). This quote describes Mrs. Dubose’s will-power; she perseveres through the negative side effects of quitting her addiction even though she is very close to dying anyway. Jem does not know about Mrs. Dubose’s sickness yet but learns that everything is not always what it seems.
Jem learns from visiting Mrs. Dubose that not everything is how it seems at first glance. He also learns the value of courage and how it will later affect him as he matures into an adult. From what is described, the readers can draw a conclusion that Mrs. Dubose is impolite and bitter towards the children and is not afraid to speak her thoughts about Atticus defending Tom Robinson. As a result, Jem carries out his anger by destroying her flowers. He is later punished by Atticus by having to read to Mrs. Dubose certain days of the week for a period of time and work on her flowers. Through this process Jem is able to control his impulses and show kindness to those around him even if he does necessarily want to. This shows that Jem is becoming more of a young adult rather than a child. He also realizes that Mrs. Dubose is actually a woman of
It is an unimaginable thought that something so similar can be missing so much. They can be both so unique and incomparable. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the main character, Scout and her brother Jem fight prejudice through a young person perspective. The main characters go on a journey against Bob Ewell throughout the sleepy town of Maycomb, at the 1930’s. Bob Ewell has falsely accused Tom Robinson of a crime. On the process the characters grow a lot and find things that spark their curiosity. This makes an interesting plot with many turns. The movie, To Kill a Mockingbird, has many differences from its book, many plots and characters are missing which greatly impacts the movie directed by Robert Mulligan.
Dubose. She represents racism which is the main point in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, “‘ Your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for!’” (135). Here Mrs. Dubose officially describes her ways of thinking. She believes that black people are nothing and that they worthless. She uses strong diction in order to describe her perspective of Atticus and his work. Through her and her symbolism Jem and Scout learn about racism. Racism is a cruel thing and affects the people who encounter it. “ I had become almost accustomed to hearing insults aimed at Atticus,” (136). Scout has become used to the remarks given about Atticus and their family. Although the children are used to it that does not mean they aren’t annoyed by it. Many people took racism as a way of life whereas the Finches saw it as an injustice. Just like this quote, eventually Jem could not handle Mrs. Dubose and destroyed her garden. He did something about what he viewed as an injustice by Mrs.
Throughout the novel, Jem is influenced by a variety of people and circumstances. His surroundings and the people that he grew up with influenced his outlook on life and persuaded him into a well developed young man. First and foremost, his father Atticus established morals, and guidelines and consequently lead him into adulthood. He provided wisdom and insight into a future for Jem, free from inequality and abundant in fairness. Mrs. Dubose, although biased and cruel, was a figure of courage for Jem to learn from. Throughout the case, Jem was constantly reiterating his opinion on how he believed none of it was right. At the end of the novel, Jem was put in the worst situation at such a young age, almost being murdered. Luckily, the outcome
Mrs. Dubose is an old lady who lives two doors up the street from the Finch's house. Atticus' son, Jem destroyed Mrs. Dubose's flowers because she had said disrespectful things about Atticus which brought out Jem's anger. Even though Atticus was very upset, he does not believe violence is the appropriate way to approach any situation considering it does not teach you valuable lessons. Instead, Jem's punishment was to read to Mrs. Dubose every day for the month and in the end taught him the true meaning of courage. Atticus demonstrates that holding your head up and fists down will save you from more complicated situations. Another example would be when disrespectful Bob Ewell spat on Atticus' face because Atticus made Bob look like a fool during his testimony. Atticus stayed calm during the whole situation. He held his head high and walked away during the scene. Following this further, Atticus sets honorable examples for his children. He believes all people have goodness in their hearts no matter how cruel or heartless they act, even if their status was low, they would have generosity and kindness inside. The first impression of Mrs. Dubose was described as a rude lady. She says to Scout, “Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!” (Lee 133). However, Mrs. Dubose is really a kind lady who causes no harm once you get the kindness out of her. In addition, Atticus compliments her and treats her as he would treat any
Ms.Dubose was an old lady down the block from Jem and Scout, that would shout out malicious things to them about themselves and their family. One example of Jem being childish and acting immature is, that when Ms.Dubose said Atticus was “lawing for a n******” he teared up her precious camellias. This shows how he was immature and couldn't control his actions and made a rash decision when faced with rude comments. Following this destruction, Jem’s punishment is to read every day, including Saturdays, for two hours at Mrs. Dubose’s house. Which he loathes doing because she is a senile old women, who makes rude remarks every time he comes over. At the end of the chapter, Atticus reveals to Jem that she was addicted to morphine and that the reading was part of her effort to wean off of her addiction. Jem receives a gift from Ms.Dubose which is a single camellia. This revels Jem feels surprised, guilty, and saddened when he sees her gift. The camellia was a reminder for the reasons he spent time with Mrs. Dubose, but it was also was a sign for him to remember her by. Atticus teaches Jem a very important lesson that not all heroes use guns and weapons, but have the real courage and strength to fight for what they want to get. “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 see it through no matter what. We finally see when Jem starts to grow up and give things thought when “He picked up the camellia…I saw him fingering the white petals” This shows how Jem has empathy for Ms.Dubose and realizes that she was fighting and had admiration for her. Jem matures and shows how he can be understanding about
Atticus makes Jem think about how he would feel if he was in Mrs. Dubose place, and what he would do. Mrs. Dubose really did no damage and because of her illness, Atticus makes it clear to Jem that she represents bravery, and that she was tougher than anyone he knew. Day after day, as Jem kept reading to Mrs. Dubose, he felt empathy towards her and matured as a person.
Harper Lee’s Mrs Dubose is scary and rough to the children, especially in chapter 11 (pp. 114-128,) when she not only yells “don’t you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs Dubose! (pp. 115)” to Scout but also disapproves of the children referring to their father as Atticus (pp.115,) doesn’t like that Scout wears overalls (pp. 117,) and wants Jem sent to reform school since she believes he had “broken down Maudie Atkinson’s scuppernong arbor (pp.116.)” Her impact is extreme on the children as she has old-fashioned values and believes they need to still act like children should, example being telling Jean-Louise or Scout “you should be in a dress and camisole young lady...what has this world come to when a Finch goes against his raising (pp.117,)” explaining the old town values of
The audacious actions executed by Mrs. Dubose are used to illustrate how she is a fundamental character when it comes to demonstrating true courage. Throughout the years Mrs. Dubose was alive she was unafraid to speak her mind knowing that others had their own views and opinions they would later express. The readers are made aware of this during the time when Mrs. Dubose was speaking to Scout and Jem saying,
Dubsose Lee shows one of the most important scenes of maturation in the novel. Lee intentionally gives the reader a very negative impression of Mrs. Dubose, describing her as so “vicious” that the Finch siblings feared walking by her front porch in fear of “being raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation” and name-calling (99). Mrs. Dubose is one of the adults that regularly throw insults at the children about their father Atticus for defending Tom Robinson. One particular insult causes Jem to reach his breaking point and he retaliates by cutting down Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes, which she values very much. Jem is unable to control his emotions and he disobeys his father when he cuts down the bushes. Lee uses the camellia flowers to symbolically represent Mrs. Dubose and the rest of Maycomb’s racist residents. Lee shows the reader how by trying to protect his fathers name; Jem does something regrettable and destructive. Through this scene Lee shows how hate creates more hate and how the answer to solving a problem is never retaliation. Lee uses Atticus and Mrs. Dubose to convey how trying to find the good in others can benefit
Mrs. Dubose displays acts of personal courage in her honesty and strength. When Jem and Scout walk past her house to go meet Atticus on his way home,
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a beloved novel published in 1960. After reading the novel there were some moments and people that I found particularly enjoyable. My favorite part of the novel was when the children went to Boo Radley's house to try to get a look at him. In addition, Atticus Finch was my favorite character in the novel. In my opinion the book was very good. I felt that it really showed the thoughts and actions, both good and bad, of the people in the South during the time of the Great Depression. At some points it was sad and at others it was comical but overall it conveyed the message that it was trying to send and everyone could learn something from it.