Mrs. Dubose, a great lady?

Atticus calls Mrs. Dubose a great lady because of what she was brave. Jem and Scout describe Mrs. Dubose as a mean lady. Although she was tough on the outside, Atticus thinks of her differently. He thinks of her as a brave lady, even though he had already heard that she was calling him bad things. She had no husband and only had a young slave woman for company. Along with this, she was a morphine addict.

“She had her own view about things, a lot different from mine,”
“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. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”

“She was the bravest person I ever knew.”
Atticus realizes that his views are different from most people, and that Mrs. Dubose believes in what she wants to believe in. Even though she is a week old woman she has lots of courage. Atticus was planning to send his kids to Mrs. Dubose house even before they were made. He wanted his children to witness her bravery before she died. According to Atticus she had more courage then a man with a gun. She knew that everyday she had to live with the pain and knew she was going to get licked but she went out anyway and fought the fact that she was an “outsider.”