What Does Mrs Dubose React to Jem: Exploring The Complexity of Jem's Relationship with Mrs Dubose

When Jem Finch, Scout's big brother and a main figure in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," first meets Mrs. Dubose, it's clear things aren't gonna be smooth between them. Mrs. Dubose is this grumpy old lady who just doesn't seem very nice, and she acts all kinds of ways towards Jem throughout the book. In this essay, let's dig into why she's like that with him and what it says about who she really is. We'll follow some academic rules but keep it chill, using stuff from the book and other solid sources to get a full picture of what's going on.

The Complexity of Mrs. Dubose's Reactions

To get why Mrs. Dubose reacts to Jem the way she does, we've gotta look at when and where these run-ins happen. Jem's this curious and kind-hearted kid who bumps into Mrs. Dubose every day on his school route. But as his dad, Atticus Finch, takes on defending Tom Robinson—a black man accused of something bad—their relationship changes up a bit. Atticus tells Jem, "Mrs. Dubose is a great lady according to Atticus" (Lee 43). And since Atticus is well-respected around town, Jem tries to be nice even though she's pretty mean to him at first.

First off, Mrs. Dubose seems downright hostile towards Jem. She's throwing insults left and right—calling him names and trash-talking his family too. This anger might come from her racist views and her fear about what Atticus is doing defending Tom Robinson in court. See, Maycomb has deep racial divides, and folks like Mrs. Dubose are scared about any shifts in those lines.

But here's the thing: Jem doesn't fight back or ignore her hatefulness; instead, he keeps his cool and stays respectful because that's how Atticus raised him.

Over time though, Mrs. Dubose starts changing how she treats Jem—and I think it's 'cause she sees he's growing up into someone who's decent and caring despite everything else going on around them.

The Implications of Mrs. Dubose's Reactions

Mrs. Dubose reacting differently over time matters a lot for both her character development as well as Jems'. For one thing—through dealing with her harshness—Jem learns an important lesson about looking past appearances so you can understand people better (even if they're hard to deal with).

This growth helps shape him into someone who's more aware socially—which comes in handy while navigating life within such divided communities racially speaking... By showing respect back towards Mrs., even when she doesn’t deserve it—it shows how strongly rooted these morals are thanks largely due again partly having learned them from being raised under Atticus’ guidance!

On another note—for Ms.Duboses herself? Well seeing kids like Gem acting kindly despite initial nastiness shows there’s hope yet possible redemption perhaps lying somewhere beneath surface layers clouded prejudice initially displayed earlier interactions...

Conclusion

So yeah—to sum up—it wasn’t easy figuring out what made relationship between these two tick given initial hostility faced early days before things took turn betterment later on down line... But essentially boils down empathy meeting compassion head-on amidst backdrop tension-filled times served purpose allowing both parties involved experience significant personal transformation journeys undertaken along way!

Bibliography

• Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.