Q#11: Ms Dubose

[Steve Gibbs]

Why do we meet Ms. Dubose? What are we supposed to learn from this episode? What do the Finch children learn from Ms Dubose. The children’s world is bordered by Boo and Dubose. Are they contrasting characters?

[davidk]

mrs dubose is the opposite of boo she is assumed to be nice but realy she is a mean nasty old women who has nothing better to do then make fun of children

[barron1]

We meet Ms. dubose becasue it brings another side of the picture in. to teach the children about controlling tempers. We are supposed to learn from this, the ideas that are dying out from all of the northern influence. She was one of the characters that carried the ideas of the south with her. and when she passed away, she took those with her. the children learn from ms. dubose, that even though on the outside, she is ignorant and bad. In the inside, she is nice and sweet, but is trying to push through beacse of he morphine.

[barron1]

Yes, I think, that they are contrasting characters and comparing becasue as I said eariler, they both want to be freed adn the differences are that they both are trying to show the kids that the outside shell is just a glimspe, but the inside is where it counts.

[ahmedb]

Ms Dubose was the other "monster" at the end of the road. Her symbollic reference could be when she died, she represented how the final bonds of their block/school is opened and how they cross freely outside town. Another idea Ms Dubose represents is how "childish" the Finch kids were when they were younger. Although they never got to like Ms Dubose, they did learn to respect her more. This experience gave the Finch's more insight on how other people viewed their dad. This also hints at possible comings of times when they have to fight white folks over segregational ideas and their father with the trial,

[johnnyn11]

i agree with david. i think that she is the opposite of Boo beacause she appears to be nice but she is actually really mean. She is introduced in the story to show another side of the story and how there are a lot of different people in the town. Also i think she is in the story to show the children that some people are two-sided. Mrs. Dubise says mean stuff about Atticus the scout and Jem but she is extremely nice to Atticus in person. I dont exactly understand why atticus doesnt get mad at her even whhen the children tell him all the mean things she says about him behind his back.

[traviszucca]

I don't think that she is the opposite of Boo Radley because people think that Boo is mean and now everyone knows that Mrs. Dubose is a mean old lady. But I do think that she is in the story to show that there is a lot of different variety's of people in the town of Maycomb.

[mariea]

Ms. Dubose is not the opposite of Boo Radley in some ways. She was put in the story to teach Jem how it feels to help others. Boo as also put in the story for reasons. She really wasnt a mean old lady. She was really nice, but her actions and language were mean. She just wanted company and she really did love the Finch children. In her own way by keeping them at her house longer and longer.

[lee]

I think that to the finch children Boo at this point was an unknown horror and Ms. Dubose is a loud horror that they know very well. she is a lady that will speak her mind because she is a morphine addict, and this just shows what others would like to say, but others still have control over themselves so they don't say this. I really don't know if she really has depth and meaning in this story, but i'm sure she does. it's just that i don't know. to me she seemed like a sick old lady that likes children.

[readc]

SHE IS A HORRIBE PERSON AND NEEDS TO DIE!!!!! Sorry, I srtrongly dislike this old bird. She is probably one of those characters that is a diversion from the actual picture, you know, just to give the reader a little break from the main plot. I am sure she was a sweet lady once, thenI guess something tragic happened, and now she's a mean old lady.

[readc]

one more thing: she is also there because theFinch kids need to keep their anger controlled.

[mariea]

well christine i dont think she was a bad person.. i just think that since she was old she had a reason to be mean

[rundel]

YES! She should die! oh yeah, she already did... but anyway, she's a crazy old lady. Maybe it was her age that was causing her to be so bad-tempered, callous, cantankerous, churlish, contemptible, dangerous, despicable, difficult, dirty, disagreeable, dishonorable, down, evil, formidable, hard, hard-nosed, ignoble, ill-tempered, infamous, knavish, liverish, lousy, malicious, malign, nasty, perfidious, pesky, rotten, rough, rude, rugged, scurrilous, shameless, sinking, snide, sour, the lowest, touch, treacherous, troublesome, ugly, unfriendly, unpleasant, unscrupulous, vexatious, vicious. Hehe, those are all the synonyms for mean. Courtesy of dictionary.com

[rundel]

Oh yeah, I think her purpose was to give the Finch kids a lesson in controlling their anger. And learning to deal with and treat with respect people with different opinions. Mrs. Dubose and Boo are different, yet similar. They're both out of touch with the world around them. But Boo is kind, and Mrs. Dubose is ..... not.

[tusting]

i agree with ahmed. he puts it well said. but in addition to what he is saying, i think that mrs dubose is put into the story to teach the children that you cant judge someone from the outside. when we are first introduced to mrs dubose, she is described as a mean, harsh old lady who harasses the children whenever they dare cross her house. when jem ruins her shrubbery and is forced to come read to her, we may not see a different side of mrs dubose, but we do learn that like all people, she is not all that mean and faces many challenges herself, which cause her to be unhappy. i also agree with marie, in that it is clear that mrs dubose cares about the children, when she extends their reading visits.