<P> Francis Hancock is the spoiled grandson of Aunt Alexandra . (The son of her son, Henry Hancock .) Every Christmas, Henry and his wife drop Francis at Finch's Landing, which is the only time Scout and Jem see him . Francis lives in Mobile, Alabama, and is a bit of a tattle - tale . He gets along well with Jem, but often spars with Scout . One Christmas, Francis calls Atticus a "n * * * * * - lover," as well as insisting that he was ruining the family and the likes, which infuriates Scout and causes them to get into a fight . Francis lies about his role in it, telling Uncle Jack that Scout started it by calling him a "whore lady", and Jack therefore punishes Scout . However, she explains the full story and charitably persuades her uncle not to punish Francis about it, but to let Atticus think they had been fighting about something else (although Atticus later discovers the truth). </P> <P> Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose is an elderly woman who lives near the Finches . She is hated by the children, who run by her house to avoid her . Scout describes Mrs. Dubose as "plain hell ." A virulent racist, she calls Atticus a "nigger - lover" to his children's faces, and Jem flies into a rage and ravages Mrs. Dubose's camellia bushes . As a punishment, Jem is required to read to Mrs. Dubose each day for a month . As Jem reads, she experiences a fit of drooling and twitching and does not seem to pay any attention to the words . When an alarm rings, Jem is allowed to leave for the day . She extends the punishment for one extra week and dies shortly after letting Jem go for the last time . Atticus informs him that Mrs. Dubose was terminally ill and had become addicted to morphine . By reading to her, Jem had distracted her so that she could break the addiction . In thanks, she leaves him a candy box with a camellia flower in it; Jem burns the box in anger, but is later seen by Scout admiring the flower . Atticus tells Jem that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew, and she was trying to teach Jem the importance of bravery and true courage to endure anything when the situation is hopeless, as in her morphine addiction . </P> <P> Mr. Heck Tate is a friend of Atticus and also the sheriff of Maycomb County . He believes in protecting the innocent although he doesn't usually show it . When Tom has been locked in jail and a lynch mob turns up to kill him, the sheriff refuses to hand Tom over, instead dispersing the crowd . At the end of the book, the two men argue over whether Jem or Boo Radley should be held responsible for the death of Bob Ewell . Heck eventually persuades Atticus to accept the theory that Ewell accidentally fell on his own knife, thus saving the harmless, reclusive Boo from the public exposure of a criminal trial . </P> <P> Mr. Braxton Bragg Underwood is a news reporter and a friend of Atticus . He owns and also publishes The Maycomb Tribune . Being a racist, he disagrees with Atticus on principle . He also has a strong belief in justice, as exemplified when he defends Atticus from the Cunningham mob by having his double barrel shotgun loaded and ready to shoot them . He also demonstrates some humanity when he publishes a scathing editorial comparing the killing of Tom Robinson (a cripple) to "the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children". </P>

Ages of characters in to kill a mockingbird