It was certainly hard for Jem to comprehend at first, but
I believe he came to understand the depths of Mrs. Dubose's courage after Atticus
explained all the facts to him. Mrs. Dubose shows that even while facing death, she was
willing to commit to completing the painful decision she had made: To kick the morphine
habit that had plagued her for so many years. As Atticus
explained,
"It's when you know you're licked before you
begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter
what.
Atticus himself tells
Jem that courage is not "a man with a gun in his hand." He may have been referring to
the adulation that the kids had heaped on him after he had shot the mad dog. He seems to
have been telling Jem that Mrs. Dubose's courage far exceeded his own when he picked up
a gun for the first time in many years. No doubt Atticus did not consider his act one of
bravery, but of necessity.
No comments:
Post a Comment