Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird displays through the children’s interactions with and thoughts of Mrs. Dubose and Dolphus Raymond how the first impression of someone is never completely true.
Granted, as a cantankerous old woman, one who the mocks Atticus and his children from her porch as they walk by, the children do not take a liking to her. Like most people in town, Mrs. Dubose disapproves of Atticus’ decision to actually defend Tom Robinson and makes her opinion apparent to the Finch family. Not to mention, she insults the kids for their mere existence, basing her accusations on nothing. Scout described their interactions with her as such: “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful …show more content…
He is not liked very much by the white community because he spends most of his time with Negroes, and most blame his way of life on how drunk he is most, if not all, of the time. When they first see him, Jem questions “‘Don’t see how he stays in the saddle,” murmured Jem. “How c’n you stand to get drunk ‘fore eight in the morning?’” (211). The whole town views this man as some drunkard; that is why, they think, he lives like he does with the Negro community, he just cannot help himself. However, as Scout and Dill learn from Dolphus Raymond himself, this is not the case: “‘Some folks don’t —like the way I live… I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, 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’” (268). In this case, Dolphus Raymond used people’s ignorance to his own benefit, but with this in mind, it is easy to see first impressions are never the full truth. Since Scout and Dill had this conversation with Dolphus Raymond, they got to know him better as he opened up to them. Clearly, then this helps prove the point of the matter further that how you first perceive someone is never the full truth and that it is wise to get to know a person before developing the wrong perception of
Granted, as a cantankerous old woman, one who the mocks Atticus and his children from her porch as they walk by, the children do not take a liking to her. Like most people in town, Mrs. Dubose disapproves of Atticus’ decision to actually defend Tom Robinson and makes her opinion apparent to the Finch family. Not to mention, she insults the kids for their mere existence, basing her accusations on nothing. Scout described their interactions with her as such: “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful …show more content…
He is not liked very much by the white community because he spends most of his time with Negroes, and most blame his way of life on how drunk he is most, if not all, of the time. When they first see him, Jem questions “‘Don’t see how he stays in the saddle,” murmured Jem. “How c’n you stand to get drunk ‘fore eight in the morning?’” (211). The whole town views this man as some drunkard; that is why, they think, he lives like he does with the Negro community, he just cannot help himself. However, as Scout and Dill learn from Dolphus Raymond himself, this is not the case: “‘Some folks don’t —like the way I live… I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, 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’” (268). In this case, Dolphus Raymond used people’s ignorance to his own benefit, but with this in mind, it is easy to see first impressions are never the full truth. Since Scout and Dill had this conversation with Dolphus Raymond, they got to know him better as he opened up to them. Clearly, then this helps prove the point of the matter further that how you first perceive someone is never the full truth and that it is wise to get to know a person before developing the wrong perception of