He read to her for a month for smashing her bushes. She died so his punishment ended.
Jem Finch
Jem Finch was around 13 years old when Mrs. Dubose died in the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Jem cuts the camellia bushes of Mrs. Dubose, a cantankerous elderly woman in "To Kill a Mockingbird." He cuts them as a punishment for his sister, Scout, following an altercation they had with Mrs. Dubose.
Jem attacks Mrs. Dubose's camellias in the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird." He destroys the flowers after Mrs. Dubose insults his father, Atticus. Jem later learns the reason behind Mrs. Dubose's behavior and the significance of his actions.
Mrs. Dubose insults Atticus in front of Jem on pages 135-136 in the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
Jem knocks the heads off Mrs. Dubose's CAMELLIAS, NOT azaleas. (It is instead Miss Maudie who nurtures azaleas in her garden.). This happens in Chapter 11, page 114 (may vary depending on your particular book).
Chapter 11
Jem's punishment was that he had to read to Mrs. Dubose every week.He learned about her morphine addiction,and was very sad for making fun of her and being rude to her because she was actually quite nice.In the end,Mrs. Dubose dies,and leaves Jem the candy box that was in her home,and inside was one of the flower tops that had grown back after Jem had cut all the tops off.Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose after school everday and on Saturday. He had to do for two hours and for one month.
In "To Kill a Mockingbird," Jem uses Scout's baton to destroy Mrs. Dubose's camellia plants as a means of retaliation after Mrs. Dubose insults Atticus. This act ultimately leads to Jem reading to Mrs. Dubose as a punishment.
He cut the tops of her flowers off
Jem is upset with Mrs. Dubose's racist comments towards his father, so he retaliates by destroying her flowers as an act of rebellion. Jem is trying to stand up for his family and assert his own sense of justice in response to Mrs. Dubose's bigotry.
Jem and Scout say that Mrs. Dubose is the meanest woman who ever lived in Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird".