A Comparison Of To Kill A Mockingbird And Dolphus Raymond

341 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in literature

Dolphus Raymond is known for preferring Black people rather than White and the father of three mixed children. For his reputation, he drinks Coca-cola in a paper bag disguised as an alcoholic drink and pretends to be drunk. He intends to do this so that people would excuse him for “betraying” his own race. The Coca-cola represents his non-racism and fair judgment towards Black people. The beverage, however, is placed inside a paper bag. This hints that he has no intention changing the society but show his lack of racism and his wish to live in peace with his family. He and Atticus both dissent from the rules of segregation in their society. Atticus, in contrast, takes the initiative on changing the society by taking Tom Robinson’s case. In

Show More
Related

  • To Kill A Mockingbird: A Dialectical Journal Entry

    316 Words  | 1 Pages

    Entry 1: I feel as though the Lord only caters to white people. I’m really shaking and I just keep shaking but I am staying strong. There was an empty cell between me and all of the other prisoners. Ms. Emma came to see me but I was quiet and just starring at the ceiling. I didn’t care about anything, nothing mattered to me. I am going to die soon anyway so what’s the point. (“What it go’n feel like”(pg. 225).

    Read More

  • What Does The Flowers Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    He only brought joy, happiness, and relief to those he visited or worked for. One final instance that “Mockingbird” characters are affected would be that of Mr. Dolphus Raymond. Mr. Raymond is a man who loves his African American even though he is unable to marry her and have children that can fit into the society of the South during the Jim Crow Laws time period. Jem says to Scout, “They said it was because she found out about his coloured woman, he reckoned he could keep

    Read More

  • Social Conformity In To Kill A Mockingbird

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the values of Maycomb is racism. However, there are a few that does not believe in this value, including Mr. Dolphus Raymond. Mr. Dolphus Raymond is a white man married to a black woman and has mixed children. He does not believe in society’s ideology regarding racism and knows that some citizens of Maycomb antagonize him. However, he does not care, as he prefers the colored people over white. He knows how unfair society is, from the way he gets treated. Moreover, Jem realizes the falsities of society, due to the injustice he sensed. After Tom’s verdict, Jem’s first clear sense of injustice provided a new perception on the world. When he was young, he believed that the people of Maycomb are the best folks, but the outcome of the trial changed this thought. Furthermore, Scout’s realization of the falsehood in society is with the hypocrisy of Miss Gates. She was taught by Miss Gates how Americans do not believe in persecution. However, Scout saw Miss Gates talk about the African Americans in an adverse way. Learning about the falsehood in society is part of

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ne of his biggest secrets, he states, “I want to try to give [people] a reason… If I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey-that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself that’s why he lives the way he lives” (Lee, 200). Dolphus Raymond knows prejudice, injustice, and racism are very well alive in the community. He doesn’t want to be judged by his community and he finds the only way to escape the torment of the society’s judgements is by pretending to be drunk. Scout learns about the judgemental society she lives in. Moreover, she learns not to judge others before knowing their stories. Clearly, the events of the Tom Robinson trial are very important to Scout. The trial causes Scout to mature before her time, but also enables her to learn the truth about the untold and dark secrets of life.

    Read More

  • Racism in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    My attitude to racism has developed in the course of the narrative. Mr Dolphus Raymond continues to elaborate on my feelings while he talks to Scout and Dill during the court case. He is a sinful man according to the community as he is has fathered mixed children. To contemplate this felony he pretended to be a drunk: "Secretly, Miss Finch, I'm not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that is the way I want to live.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Bob Ewell And To Kill A Mockingbird

    163 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (Lee 217). In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird Bob Ewell reacted to Atticus Finch after opposed him during a court case, of his daughter being raped by an African American, by defending the clearly innocent black man. Bob Ewell is the father of seven children, has a drinking problem, and doesn’t have much money to sustain either of them. He beats his children after drinking to the point of idiocy. He takes advantage of things, like him being a white in an extremely segregated era, and uses them for his own benefit. Him being one of the most racist people in the town, and accusing a black man of rape, he made

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Essay: Parallels and Differences

    1759 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach, a contemporary novel, shares numerous characteristics with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written in the 1960's. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, McCorkle's novel documents the life of a young girl in a small southern town. The two narrators, Kate Burns and Scout Finch, endure difficult encounters. A study of these main characters reveals the parallels and differences of the two novels. Jill McCorkle duplicates character similarities and rape from Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to show the reader how young girls think and develop.

    Read More

  • Comparison on the Movie and the Book To Kill a Mockingbird

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    As most everyone knows, there are differences between a book and it’s movie adaptation. This is applicable to the book and it’s movie counterpart To Kill a Mockingbird, as well. But aside from the differences, there are also similarities between these two.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Social Expectations Vs Reality

    503 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dolphus Raymond pretends to be drunk most of the time in order to live the way the he wants to and not be judged and asked questions regarding his choice of lifestyle. He married a black woman and has multiple mixed children. This shows that social expectations are sometimes more valued than the actual truth because he didn’t conform to the expectations of society.Another place in the story that supports this is when all the evidence was in Tom Robinson’s favor but the jury convicted him guilty. In this scene, social expectations are sometimes more valued than the actual truth, is shown because most people in Maycomb are racist and think all black people are somehow lesser/below them. Society expect all black people to be criminals and always wrong so that’s why he was convicted. Even though all the evidence pointed to him being

    Read More

  • Persona In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    Persona can be loosely defined as the face value that is usually a positive image, while the shadow is the buried reality that is the polar opposite of what is seen. Shirley Jackson wrote "The Lottery" which is about a town's annual mandatory lottery; it shockingly concludes with the murder of the winning person."The Lottery" illustrates the psychological concepts of persona and shadow through the yearly, unjustifiable stoning in the midst of a seemingly modern and thriving town.

    Read More

  • Seclusion In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the trial of Tom Robinson, the children meet Dolphus Raymond, a mixed-race man who is isolated from Maycomb because of his unorthodox decisions. Scout, Jem, and Dill find out that he chooses to be secluded from society and is not forced to be excluded because “it ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks… they could never, never understand that [Mr. Raymond] live[s] like [he does]... because that’s the way [he wants]... to live” (200-201). The children realize that the town’s tendency to stay with its old-fashioned ways of thinking has caused an innocent man who made unusual decisions to be excluded from society. When the children talk to him, they discover that he is actually a kind man whose reputation has been destroyed by the talk of Maycomb. Dolphus Raymond chooses to seclude himself by creating a different external image for the people of Maycomb because he believes that the town will not understand that he wishes to live the way he does. Because of his choice to allow the town to believe what they desire to assume about his life, he understands that the town cannot change what it thinks of someone after making false assumptions of that person. He decides to take on bad characteristics in order to give them a reason that he knows they will understand for his life choices. Even though these choices are not be the best for his reputation, he understands that it is better than trying to reason with the town for what he wishes to do. In addition, intolerance and rumor plays into his seclusion because the town cannot adapt to the thinking of others. The town cannot grasp the diverse ways of thinking that it should, and, consequently, the people create bad images for anyone who they do not understand. Thus, Dolphus Raymond chooses to seclude himself from Maycomb in order to give the people a reason as

    Read More

  • Racism in To Kill A Mockingbird

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Racism presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. Some are blatant and open, but others are more insidious. One obvious way that racism presents itself is in the result of Tom Robinson’s trial. Another apparent example is the bullying Jem and Scout had to endure as a result of Atticus’s appointment as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. A less easily discernible case is the persecution of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who chose to live his life in close relation with the colored community.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Raymond is the town's “drunk”. In his case he pretends to be drunk so people can explain why he's married to a black woman and lives with her. Coming into town rarely and pretending to be a drunk every time is how Raymond keeps his legacy going. Scout, Jem and Dill soon find out why he does this “Secretly Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”(Lee pg 268) In spite of what others say Raymond acts drunk so people don't judge him further than they already do. Later, Scout and Dill find out that Mr. Raymond does care about what other people think, but not in the way they would of thought. The paper bag he carries around turns out to be hiding not whisky, but Coke, and his drunkenness is but a show. "When I come to town, […] if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey—that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does" (Lee pg 268) Raymond chooses to act like a drunk and have the townspeople believe that's the reason why he lives the way he does instead of him just wanting to live normally. In a way he is bullied, bullied by the people of Maycomb and he’s not the only

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird and A Time to Kill: Similarities and Differences

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Time to Kill and To Kill a Mockingbird both have a number of similarities to be compared and contrasted. Both stories can be compared in their themes about justice and racial prejudice. However, this is where the similarities end. The themes and ideas in both novels are vastly different in shape and scope. In A Time to Kill justice is the main theme and most of the ideas are focused on justice and the gray in between the lines of black and white set by the law, racial prejudice is also touched upon very frequently in the comparisons between Jake Brigance and Carl Lee Hailey and how he wouldn't even have had to face trial if he was a white man. In To Kill a Mockingbird justice is a theme which is not expanded upon or explained in nearly as much detail as it is in A Time to Kill. To Kill a Mockingbird also has a much larger variety in it's themes, ranging from the themes of justice to the exploration of a child's way of perceiving right and wrong as well as the idea of coming of age. These stories are honestly and objectively far more different than they are alike.

    Read More

  • Comparison of the Main Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reading a book once in a while helps us from being ignorant from the outside world. Readers many times dare to compare and discuss about the books that they have read. This works when we read two master pieces of literature that could be very similar and in the same time very different stories. I had the great fortune of reading the screenplay of “To Kill a Mockingbird” as well as the part of the memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”. After reading these two great pieces of literature I dare to compare the main characters, Scout from “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Maria from “I know why the caged bird sings”. The main intentions of this two books are to teach lesson to their readers whether they could be children or adults.

    Read More

More about A Comparison Of To Kill A Mockingbird And Dolphus Raymond

Open Document