No!

no, no, No, No, NO! Mrs. Dubose is nothing of the kind! True, she is rude, cranky and speaks badly of Atticus to his children. There was a time I believe, in Massachusetts or New England some place, where children could be executed for being incorrigible. Pre Word War II children were to be seen, not heard. The last several generations have been robbed of the opportunity to respect adults if for no other reason than because they are older. I had a student today challenge me loudly, repeatedly and disrespectfully on whether a question on a quiz was correct or not. She is nine!! What the hell does she know about it? Mrs. Dubose's treatment of Jem and Scout is a reflection of that attitude. And I'm telling 'ya, I don't know if our children are better because they have "rights" that they tend to exercise boldly and without authority or buy-in. Current generations would not even respect Atticus enough to obey him and he is a hero of character, integrity and grit. Mrs. Dubose is harsh and rude but it is reasonable to me that Atticus expect his children to be respectful and polite. The true test of character is not how we are treated but how we treat others. The entire book is about how people can be their worst selves when their very foundation is challenged. Add mob mentality to a segregation south and you have Maycomb. But this book is a reflection of a the time and culture of Maycomb Remember the copyright date of this book is 1960. Our nation was fast approaching the reality of segregation and it was violent and vicious. There are no bad guys in this book (yet). However, the reactions of the people of Maycomb to Tom Robinson's crime is almost more hideous than what Tom did. And we would be smug to think that our behavior is "far" above that of the citizens of Maycomb. Maycomb represents the "best" and the "worst" in all of us.