The story of Mrs. Dubose is found in chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird. The three ways that she demonstrates courage are: by facing the world alone and sick for a very long time; by deciding at her old age to conquer a drug addiction; and by achieving her goal to die free from said addiction. For many years, Mrs. Dubose lived alone and in sickness. She was so sick that she became addicted to morphine, a drug prescribed to her by her doctor. Just facing each sickly day alone for years demonstrates courage. Then, when Mrs. Dubose figured she was nearing her life's end, she decided to overcome her addiction before she died. Making such a difficult decision like kicking a drug addiction at her age is also courageous. Finally, after her death, Atticus was able to report that Mrs. Dubose had achieved her goal to overcome the addiction and she died free of it. Atticus goes further to tell Jem about Mrs. Dubose's courage as follows:
"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. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew" (112).
Another way Mrs. Dubose showed courage is when she realized she had a problem with her prescription. Not many people can identify and then admit they have a problem when they are as sick as she was. For many, it would just be easier to take the easy way out and die with the drugs in their system, but not her. When she decided to do something about her problem, she didn't let any excuses get in the way of achieving her goal and that is courageous. Again, where many wouldn't be strong enough to admit they even had a problem, she did; and then she actually did something productive about it.
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