In "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, characters Jem, Scout and Dill are living during the depression-era in Maycomb County, Alabama. Jem, Scout and their friend Dill are children, but throughout the course of the novel, they are thrown into the middle of a very adult situation; the murder of a white woman, the accused black man and a town caught up in the fever of racism. The kids grow up learning many lessons from Atticus or from their own experiences. In her depiction of Jem, Scout, and Dill, Lee reveals their maturation from being the children they are to having a thorough understanding of their society and the people within it. Jem's maturity is shown through his understanding of true courage and Boo's true personality. A few months after that, she dies and Atticus explains about the reason he makes Jem read: "[Mrs. Dubose] had her own views about things, a lot different from mine I wanted you to see something about her 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" (Lee 149). Atticus says that he makes Jem read to her because he wants to understand what real courage is. Mrs. Dubose is morphine addict, but she forces herself to quit even though she knows she was going to die. Without Jem's knowledge, Mrs. Dubose has been using him to help stop her addiction. Mrs. Dubose could die in a narcotic bliss, but she decides to do what she feels is right. Learning from Mrs. Dubose's experience, Jem is taught that not all courage comes from physical power. He learns that one does not have to prove to anyone that he has courage. He is taught that he has to strive to achieve something that they feel is right. He also sees that Atticus, even though he is obviously on the losing side, crusades for justice and the principles that he holds true to. Through both of these events, the author shows that Jem learns what true courage really is. Another place where Jem is shown to be mature