To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 11 Carter Mayfield, Ray Allen, Matthew Shannon and Jarren Vels To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 11

Plot Summary Jem and scout explain their hatred towards Mrs. Dubose. “Previous encounters left me with no desire for more”. “we would be raked by her wrathful gaze”. “subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behavior”. “we could do nothing to please her”. “don’t say hey to me you ugly girl! These quotes all suggest that Jem and scout despise of Ms. Dubose, and she is a very grumpy and mean old women, and that Scout and Jem cant do anything without Mrs. Dubose interrogating and questioning their actions Mrs. Dubose says Scout should be more lady like “What are you doing in those overalls?, you should be in a dress and a camisole young lady! Jem, enraged from Mrs Dubose insulting Atticus, rips the flowers off her camellia bushes. As punishment, Atticus makes Jem go and read to Mrs. Dubose each afternoon. “she said you lawed for niggers and trash” Jem explained. This suggests that Jem didn’t like that Mrs. Dubose has insulted their father, as Atticus is a respectable man and Mrs. Dubose is a very conservative person that is against all change. “she wants me to read to her” said Jem. This is a significant quote, as it suggest that Mrs. Dubose is aware of her condition and knows that reading to her, calms and reduces her fits. At first, each reading session is cut short by Mrs. Dubose's strange fits, but over the month the sessions get longer and the fits slowly disappear. “She was horrible. Her face was the colour of a dirty pillow case, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet. Old aged liver spots dotted her cheeks, and her pale eyes had black pinpointed pupils. Her hands were knobby and the cuticles grew over her fingernails.” This small paragraph suggests that Mrs. Dubose is in a very bad state of health and may be mentally ill. Soon after the reading sessions end, Mrs. Dubose dies. She leaves Jem a single white camellia flower. Jem is horrified, but Atticus explains that Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine and the reading sessions helped her kick the habit before she died. Even though Mrs. Dubose ridiculed Atticus for defending Tom Robinson, he calls her the most courageous person he ever knew, a person who knew she was beaten and still fought no matter what.

Setting Southern neighborhood- this includes the Radley house, Mrs. Dubose’s house, Scout and Jem’s house and their school. But the main setting in chapter 11 is Mrs. Dubose’s house and the Finch household. Quotes of the setting include: “When we were small, Jem and I confined our activities to the southern neighborhood, but when I was well into the second grade at school a tormenting Boo Radley became passé, the business section of Maycomb drew us frequently up the street past the real property of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose.” Pg. 110 “Jem having survived Boo Radley, a mad dog and other terrors, had concluded that it was cowardly to stop at Miss Rachel’s front steps and wait, and had decreed that we must run as far as the post-office corner each evening.” Pg. 111 These two sentences just give us a brief description of where the book is set.

Characters “She was very old; she spent most of each day in bed and the rest of it in a wheel chair” This describes briefly about Mrs Dubose age and her health  “…we would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behaviour, and given a melancholy prediction on what we would amount to when we grow up, which was always nothing.” The quote shows Mrs. Dubose as a mean, judgmental and a disgraceful person. …he had cut the tops off every camillia bush Mrs Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves…Jem yanked my hair, said he didn’t care, he’d do it again if he got a chance, and if I didn’t shut up he’d pull every hair out of my head. I didn’t shut up and he kicked me. I lost my balance and fell on my face. Jem picked me up roughly but looked like he was sorry.” This quote shows us that Jem cannot control his anger after being enraged by Mrs Dubose, he even hurt his own sister with his actions but didn’t mean it as he had “looked like he was sorry”.

Themes and message The main themes are courage and that everything is not like what it seem this is shown when Atticus tells Jem that Mrs. Dubose was dying because she was a past morphine addict. The message of the chapter is that there is always a reason for everything whether its hidden or not.

Index Passé - no longer fashionable; out of date. Druthers - one's own way Apoplectic - extremely angry; furious Scuppernong arbour – a part of a garden, a pathway or sitting area Umbrage - offense; annoyance; displeasure: