In the novel “ To kill a mockingbird” By Harper Lee there are many characters who are social outcasts in the story. These characters give us an understanding of the storyline and help develop ideas about other characters. These characters are brilliantly crafted to create parts of the setting and show the true injustices of the town. The three social outcasts i will be using for examples are the Ewell family, Dolphus Raymond and the entire black community. All these characters in the story have completely different reactions to being social outcasts and reasons for being apart of the storyline. The Ewell family were the “white trash” of Maycomb county. They were hugely affected by the great depression and lived beyond the dump nearing into …show more content…
The use of Dolphus Raymond’s character was primarily to develop an understanding and compliment Atticus Finch’s character. He and atticus both saw the injustice in the town against it’s own people and came from similar backgrounds in Finch’s landing. However, despite having a highly respected family and an abundance of wealth behind him Dolphus didn’t have the courage to stand up for what he believed and never fought for what he believed. Instead he took the easy path out by giving the white community an excuse for his abnormal behaviour of willingly living in the black community by pretending he was a drunk. "I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason... folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey--that's why he won't change his ways... that's why he lives the way he does." He does this to protect himself and his family even though he could have made a change in the way the whole town think and start to unravel them out of their racist ways by exposing the injustice that goes on if he had the mental strength and courage to do so. In comparison this makes Atticus seem very admirable to have the courage to stand up for a member of the black community in court who was wrongly accused. When Atticus made the decision to do that he knew full well the dangers he would be putting himself and his family into but chose to do it for the greater good anyway because he believed it needed to be done and that no one else would do
There 's a point in everyone 's life when people are forced to wear a mask to hide their true selves. People want to fit into what they think is normal. Most of the time, the individual behind the mask is very different from what they are being perceived as. They can be evil and wicked, or they can be smart, loving, and caring. Characters in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee live through the Great Depression and Segregation. They all have qualities that make them unique in their own ways. In the town of Maycomb, Alabama, citizens are put under stereotypes all throughout the novel. Characters get assigned labels that aren 't entirely correct. Dolphus Raymond, Mayella Ewell, and Boo Radley are all products of what it looks
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird three characters, Scout, Jem, and Atticus Finch, experience the many hardships and difficulties of human inequality in their community, Maycomb County. Scout, the narrator, gives insight to readers about the many different characters of Maycomb, yet two are alike in many ways. Mayella Ewell is a 19-year-old girl who is considered white trash and lacks education, love, and friends. Dolphus Raymond is a wealthy white man who is married to an African-American and has mixed children. Although these characters may seem different, they share many of the same advantages and disadvantages of human inequality.
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
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
Harper Lee uses the outsiders motif to illustrate how societies are immobilized when people are constantly judging others based on appearances. Because of differences in wealth, race, education, and health, many long-lasting untrue stereotypes are created about outsiders. To Kill a Mockingbird still holds contemporary value to readers and to all of humanity because it is a powerful novel that teaches the ugly truth of prejudice and discrimination that still exists today. This is important because it can cause others to realize the problems in everyday society, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia, and encourage people to change their hearts then change the
Harper Lee has a number of characters that contribute to the novel and violent scenes in To Kill a Mockingbird, some that have meaning and some that do not. Some characters that appear often and some that have a minimal role in being seen in the novel, but the characters that do not appear often seem to have the biggest impact on the novel. There are three characters that are looked down on by society around them, one because of race and two because of their morals. Society disregarded these people simply because they were afraid that they could be like them and the unknown. Lee uses violence and alienation to help depict the things that are wrong within the small society.
Ever judge someone by how they act or by what they say? In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, two kids must face some ugly things thrown at them by the town and their own relatives, just because their father, Atticus Finch, is defending an African-American. This all takes place in the south during the Great Depression in the 1930 's when Alabama was still a segregated state. When you get to know the characters and start comparing them you start to realize why they all act this way towards them. Lee uses characterization to show how prejudice and superstition can influence people’s behavior in a negative way.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many different themes come into view. One major theme that played a big role in the character’s lives is racial prejudice. Racism is an unending problem throughout the book. The song “Message from a Black Man” by The Temptations has many similarities to the theme of racial discrimination. Therefore, both the novel and the song prove that racism was a great obstacle for some people at a point.
People have always judged and had prejudices towards others. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” the African Americans and a family named the Ewells are looked down upon by the rest of the town. They differ greatly though in why. They share a common class and financial status. However, The African Americans vary from the Ewells in how they came to the lower class and their lifestyle.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird expresses the ideology that the social standard of a particular individual, classifies their status in the world. Individuals placed in social classes are labeled to create a sense of social identity. The socio-economic class an individual is born into should not be the determining factor of how the individual is regarded and treated, however, their character and personality should be a primary factor in determining how they are thought of in society.
After reading chapter 16 of To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader is introduced to two new characters. First, we are introduced to a character named Dolphus Raymond. Dolphus is a wealthy white male after the death of his wife he tricked the Maycomb townspeople into believing he is an alcoholic and is now living at the other side of maycomb with his colored wife and mixed children. I think Lee purpose of putting Raymond in the story is to show readers that not all white people hated black people. Raymond is one of the few people who enjoins black people company. He moved to the other side of maycomb to live with them because “ he likes ‘em better’n he likes us.” he also has some mixed children of his own. According to Jem most people do most want
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a major theme is that sometimes being an individual challenges society’s values and views. In the novel, Dolphus Raymond had an interracial family that many of the people of Maycomb couldn’t come to terms with. While the people of Maycomb gathered in the courtroom, Dolphus Raymond was spotted, “...He’s got a colored women and all sorts of mixed chillun” (Lee 214). Later in the same scene Jem says he lives like that because “ That’s just his way…” (Lee 215). Families in Maycomb were so confused by his love for his black family that they even made a fictional reason behind Raymond’s alternative lifestyle. The reason surpassed just being that way, many of the people in town believed that Dolphus was an evil
Racism. racism is the prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race, based on the belief that one's own race is superior. This belief has been around for many years, ever since the beginning of humanity. Many experts say that racism started in the colonial era and is know starting to diminish. Nonetheless there are still people who believe in the supremacy of their race and think someone's ethnicity makes up their personality. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the people of Maycomb treat African Americans like they're second class citizens. In this Novel, Lee expresses one’s appearance doesn't change people of other ethnicities character and opinions. In which Lee means your appearance can’t change
To Kill A Mockingbird is a dramatic story about human behavior- cruelty, love, compassion, and hatred. The sweet family of 3 lives in the Southern town of Maycomb County. Atticus, the father, Scout Finch, and Scout’s brother, Jem. The Finch family lives in the time period of the Great Depression. Atticus still has his job as a lawyer and that’s when he realizes one of the greater themes of the story- The Existence of Social Inequality.
The world is and has always been categorized by many different aspects including the amount of income someone receives, or the color of someone’s skin. These categories are broken up into several different Socio-Economic classes, determined by the economic conditions of someone. People tend to judge and disrespect others of different class rank or race. Whichever class someone belongs to determines the lifestyle and standard of living of the individual. Not only are social class differences a big part in classifying today’s world, but social class differences were of greater impact on the people of the in the south during the 1930s. There are many different ways to categorize the people of the 1930s south and apply those categories to movies