Atticus Struggles

The character Jem, Scout, Atticus, and Mrs. Dubose all run into unavoidable conflict that they overcome or try to overcome, from it being Jem and Scout struggle with Mrs. Dubose or Atticus’s struggle to protect Jem and Scout from the madness that surrounds them. Jem and Scout hatred for Mrs. Dubose, who would call them vulgar names and in all, tell them that everything they were doing was wrong, grew more and more as the chapter went on. The pressure starts to take build when, Jem and Scout have to go by Mrs. Dubose house to meet Atticus when he comes home from work. This exhibits that to do something one must face an unavoidable conflict which was Mrs. Dubose. Even though she would call Jem and Scout vulgar names and call them out they would try to be nice to her and gain
The vulgar language and the disapproval radiating off of Mrs. Dubose displays, to Jem and Scout, that she was a brute and “[they] could do nothing to please her,” (99). Since Jem and Scout go home angry about the things that Mrs. Dubose would say, Atticus tells them, or Jem specifically that, “...you just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad,” this shows that Atticus wants to make sure that his son does not stoop to the level that Mrs. Dubose is on just because they have conflict between them and that he should rise above it and try to overcome all the hatred thrown their way (100). Mrs. Dubose gets under Jem’s skin when she says, “...a Finch...in the courthouse lawing for niggers..,” (101). Jem does not react to this right away but, on the way home from town, where they bought toys, Jem, “snatched [scout’s] baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose front porch...cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…,” as punishment for doing so Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose for a month (102-103). In all, if Jem had not stooped down the Mrs. Dubose’s level then he would have not created even more