Atticus called Mrs.Dubose a great lady because she always spoke her mind and did not care what anybody else might think. Mrs.Dubose always gave her opinion, whatever she was thinking she said it and made sure that people heard her. Whenever Jem and Scout would walk by her house she’d always tell them that there was something wrong with them. When Jem and Scout first walked into her house the first thing that she said to Jem was “ I see you brought that dirty little sister of yours, did you”. Even though she knew Jem and Scout hated her for her beliefs she stuck to them.
“After all the things she said about you, a lady? She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe….son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d of made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.”
Atticus not only wanted to tell Jem that Mrs.Dubose was a great lady, he wanted to show Jem, what Mrs.Dubose stood for. Atticus told Jem that she was a great lady despite the nasty things that she said about him. Mrs.Dubose would say terrible things about Atticus and call him things like ‘Negro Lover”. Atticus goes on to say that even when her ideas were often different from his, she stood up for them despite what anyone thought. Mrs.Dubose is also a great lady according to Atticus because she has real courage. Mrs.Dubose speaks her mind, calls people names, and yells at children, but all that takes real guts. Atticus wanted to show Jem that real courage is not some guy with a gun, but a frail old woman who stood up for her beliefs. That is what courage really is.
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