In rural Alabama, a very ill-tempered lady, Mrs. Dubose, would say rude words to two children. Later, she starts calling the children names, and talks about their father, who supports an African American’s case. To Kill a Mockingbird challenges, the readers to take a close look, through the eyes of Mrs. Dubose, and why she’s acting so mean. Through direct and indirect characterization, Harper Lee depicts Mrs. Dubose as a courageous, mean, and old lady who impacts Jem and Scout Finch while teaching them life lessons. Harper Lee uses direct and indirect characterization in the story. When Mrs. Dubose dies and Atticus is telling Jem and scout “Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict” (Lee 127). This supports direct characterization because Harper Lee is telling us what Mrs. Dubose was like. Mrs. Dubose was described as many different character traits. Mrs. Dubose was very mean to Jem and Scout she told them “A lovelier lady than our mother never lived, she said, and it was heartbreaking the way Atticus Finch let her children run wild” (Lee 115). This supports indirect characterization because Harper Lee is showing what Mrs. Dubose said that…show more content… Dubose’s importance to the story is that she creates a conflict with Jem and Scout. Mrs. Dubose was talking about their family that Atticus would find Jem so furious. “Countless evenings Atticus would find Jem furious at something Mrs. Dubose had said when we went by” (Lee 115). The author uses this quote to show that Mrs. Dubose would make Jem furious when she talked about his family. Scout gets angry about what Mrs. Dubose told her, but Jem said “Come on, Scout” he whispered. “Don’t pay any attention to her, just hold your head high and be a gentleman” (Lee 117). Jem tells this to Scout to calm her down after what Mrs. Dubose told her. This made Scout so angry that she had to get a pep talk from her brother, Jem. Mrs. Dubose talks about the children and creates a conflict because she is ill-
