Character Summary:

Mrs Dubose was an old, wheel-chair bound woman who lives with her maid, Jessie, two doors north from where Scout lives. She was a morphine addict and as result, she became cantankerous. The children did not like her as she is always bad-mouthing them and had even called Atticus a "nigger-lover" just because he was defending Tom Robinson, a black, in court then. She has moral courage, and was determined to break off from her addiction to morphine.

Role and Importance:

Mrs Dubose is a character in the novel which shows moral courage.
Despite her morphine addiction, she wanted to die 'beholden to nobody' even though she knew she would have to go through a lot a suffering without the help from the drug. Majority would have chosen the path of a peaceful death, but Mrs Dubose was determined to overcome her addiction and to die with the pain instead.
Her moral courage had also served as a lesson for Jem about real courage. Atticus had sent Jem to read to Mrs Dubose daily to show him what real courage was. He did not want Jem to think that 'courage is a man with a gun in his hand'

Voice from Heaven

The people in Maycomb do not know me.
They do not understand me.
They either hate me or are scared of me.
Just like that boy, Cecil Jacobs, always walking out of his way to get home, just so that he could avoid me if I'm out in the front porch.
Or even like the two Finch kids, trying all means to get as far away from me as possible when passing by my house. As if I won't be able to see them if they walk across the street. My eyesight wasn't that bad yet despite my age.
The older one had even cut my precious camellias just to take revenge!
All these people hate me because of the things I say.
I admit my mistake, but I can' help it.
It's the drug.
It's the morphine precribed to numb my pain.
I don't need it.
I don't want to be like all those weak people who wishes to die painlessly.
I'd rather die beholden to nothing!
... At least Atticus understood me.
He knew what I was going through and even sent Jem to help me.

Personifying the Mockingbird:

The Mockingbird known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of insect and amphibian sounds as well as other bird songs. Hence, people would see them based on what they hear and not what they see or know about it.
Just like the Mocking bird, Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose was not what people thought she was suppose to be, but actually had another side of her which nobody knew. Nobody in Maycomb had actually see for themselves the real conditions of Mrs Dubose, therefore assuming that she is a cantankerous person from when they meet her when walking pass her house.
She had been known to be a grumpy old lady in the novel. The children did not like her. And everytime they passed by her house, she would throw criticisms towards them and also about Atticus defending a black in court.
However, Mrs Dubose is a morphine addict, and therefore was not herself. She herself did not really know what she was doing.

Diary from Heaven: Once upon a Memory

It was on a Saturday morning after I had taken my dose of morphine.
I was sitting out on my porch as usual, watching the life in Maycomb go by.
Slow as always.
No sooner, the two Finch kids came passing by just as my conciousness began to fade by the minute.
Before I knew it, my subconcious self took over my mind (and mouth).
It, my subconcious self, started giving the Finch boy a hard time.
And when Jeremy talked back, it became unhappy and started insulting Scout, and even Atticus.
saying that Atticus' "lawing for niggers" was just spoiling the Finch's name, and also about him not remarrying and letting his children run lose.
It went too far and it knew it.
Even I knew it.
However, Jeremy and Jean Louis had just went off to where they were going to.
I waited for them disappear from my point of view before calling for Jessie take take me back into the house before I totally lose concious... ...
... ... in the afternoon, I was awoken by the shrieking coming from outside house.
It took me awhile before the numbness from the morphine completely weared off.
When i was finally ready, the suprise waiting for me outside gave me the shock of my life.
My precious camellias!
Someone had cut my precious camllias!
The lovely buds were lying in a mess all over my porch.
Then I saw this broken baton with its filthy yellow tassal lying among the pile of dying camellia buds.
Somehow it had struck me that the culprit was Jeremy Finch.
I could not blame him after all that I had said from this morning... ...
... ...Whem evening came, I was in my front porch again.
As usual, Atticus would walk pass my porch behaving like a gentlemen. But this time, without his two children.
By the look on his face, it seems that he saw the cut camellias lying on the floor.
Jessie then passed the broken baton to Atticus and told him what had happened.
he had probably understood the situation, and told me that he would send Jeremy over to my house daily to help me with my addiction as a punishment.
Then, he said his usual farewells to me and hoped with all his heart that Id have a good day tomorrow.

Mrs Dubose's White Camellias

She's Got Moral Courage!

Mrs Dubose holds strong to her beliefs and goals, for example, she wanted to die as a non-morphine addict. And in the end, she managed to achieve her goal despite having to go through the pain without the help from the morphine, and also the temptation to die painlessly.

-"She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you're sick as she was, it's all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn't alright for her. She said she meant to break herself of it before she died and that's what she did."
(pg.123 - Atticus)

Letter from Heaven: Thanks to Jem

Dear Jeremy Atticus Finch,

by the time you are reading this letter, I would have already overcame my addiction of morphine with your help. As you might have already known, Atticus would have sent you to read to me even if you did not cut my precious camellias. You had helped me to lenghten the intervals for when I am supposed to take my pills, and thus achieved my goal. And also with the help of you and your sister, Jean Louis Finch, I was able to die as a non-morphine addict and beholden to nothing, but in much pain and agony. When you grow up, I hope that you will become a gentleman who shows moral courage, just like your father. Lastly, I apologise for being so grouchy and moody due to the side effects from the large morphine consumption. Please accept the candy box which I had your father to pass to you as a thank you for allowing me to die free. God bless.

Yours heavenly,
Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose