To Kill a Mockingbird — Chapter 11

About This Passage

Atticus delivers this definition of courage to Jem the night Mrs. Dubose dies. He has just revealed that her fits were the agony of breaking a morphine addiction she had endured for years. The passage is the moral hinge of the chapter — Atticus reframes courage from a physical act to a long, private struggle no one will see.

Narration Prompt

Tell the story of Chapter 11 in three movements: the porch insults, the reading sessions, and the candy box. For each movement, name one thing Jem learns that he did not know in the movement before.

Discussion Questions

1. Atticus tells Jem he wanted him to see what real courage is — 'when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway.' Compare this definition with the kind of bravery Jem first imagined when he attacked Mrs. Dubose's flowers. How does Atticus's definition reshape what bravery has meant in the book so far?
2. Mrs. Dubose says cruel things to Jem and Scout for weeks, including saying their father is no better than the people he defends. Why does Atticus require Jem to keep going back and reading to her every afternoon for a month, instead of letting Jem stay away from someone so unkind?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide