Although Atticus gave his children more independence than most kids their age, he did put his foot down on occasion. After Jem lost his temper and cut down Mrs. Dubose's camellia's with Scout's baton, Atticus demanded that he immediately return to her home and apologize to her.
"I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose," said Atticus. "Come straight home afterward."
Jem did not move.
"Go on, I said."
Jem cleaned up the mess and promised to work each Saturday to repair the damage, but the old lady had an additional request: to report to her home each day after school and on Saturdays to read to her.
"Atticus, do I have to?"
"Certainly."
"But she wants me to do it for a month."
"Then you'll do it for a month."
The reasoning for the punishment was a mystery to Jem, but he would discover later his important part in ridding Mrs. Dubose of the morphine addiction that had plagued her for so many years.
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