Who Is Dill An Outsider In To Kill A Mockingbird

Improved Essays
Who is Dill? Dill is different he is an outsider at the start of the book, but having relatives in Maycomb, as well as being a child, grants him immediate acceptance in the town. Dill is an interesting character because his personality is a lot like many of the story's other characters. As such, Dill functions as a sort of moral thermometer for the reader in understanding Maycomb. Readers, especially those who don't live in the South, are as much strangers to Maycomb as Dill is, and so he paves the way for the reader's objective observance of the story Scout has to tell.

Dill is an observer much like Scout; however, he has no vested interest or innate understanding of the various folks he encounters. Dill doesn't know his biological father,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Atticus Finch Stereotypes

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the small town of Maycomb, Mississippi, the issues of racism, prejudice, and stereotypes are prominent in the lives of many characters in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The main characters Scout and Jem are the children of Atticus Finch a well esteemed lawyer with an admirable heart, unlike most of the unjust white men in the story. Jem, Scout, and their close friend Dill are full of curiosity, vigor, and credulity; they are often found scouting out the Radley Place in search of the Boo Radley, who is quite vicious and psychotic, according to local stories and stereotypes. During the summer, the children try leaving notes, attempt to sneak a peek into the Radley place, and even create a game based off of the manic stories of Boo, but each attempt is to no avail and results in chiding from Atticus for…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boo Radley Maturity

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is about a young girl, Scout, her brother, Jem, and their friend, Dill living in Maycomb County during the early 1930s. The three children hear stories about their neighbor, Arthur “Boo” Radley, and decide they want to try to get him out of his house. A few unsuccessful summers later, Scout’s father, Atticus, is a lawyer that has been assigned a colored man’s case. The man, Tom Robinson, was accused of raping a white woman. As the children know this isn’t true, they don’t understand why he was found guilty.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most specific similarities between To Kill a Mockingbird and the author are the names of her characters. Many of the names found in the book stem from the maiden name of her mother, Frances Cunningham Finch Lee (Flanchman). The main character’s family name of Finch is easy to spot, but several other characters claim their title from this, including Scout’s rotten cousin Francis and the Cunningham family. Lee followed a similar rule with Scout and Jem’s father, Atticus. Not only is his name very similar to her own father’s first name of Amasa, but his character corresponds with him as well.…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dill ran away from home because he felt neglected by his mom and new step-dad. Jem, worried about how Dill’s mother would react said, “Your oughta let your mother know where your are… Your oughta let her know you’re here… (Harper Lee, pg.141)” To this Jem broke a sacred childhood rule and told Atticus that Dill had run away.…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a novel written by Harper Lee and is one the most well known american novels in the world. The story is written in perspective of a young girl named Scout who throughout the story loses her innocence as she sees the reality of the world. Scout lives in a small town called Maycomb. Maycomb is flawed in several ways and to distinguish some of these flaws Harper Lee uses irony. Some of these flaws include education, racism and social classes.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    As time went by, when the trial —of Tom Robinson— was happening, Dill went outside of the courthouse because he couldn’t take the way were treating Tom — a black man being accused of rape— in this trial. Scout told “Dill, that’s his job. Why, if we didn’t have persecutors—well, we couldn’t have defense attorneys,... (199).”…

    • 1829 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Amazed and concerned about Dill’s actions, Jem shows a sign of growth and maturity by informing his father about the situation. Although both Dill and Scout see Jem as a “traitor” for telling Atticus, the young man recognizes that he did the right thing. He says, “Dill, I had to tell him… You can’t run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin’” (161).…

    • 2133 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What Scout learns is that not everyone is as they may seem on the outside and until getting to know that person, it is not right to judge them. In To Kill a Mockingbird Dolphus Raymond is known to always be intoxicated and an outcast since he lives with a black woman and has mulatto children. Since he lives this way everyone in Maycomb believes he is an evil man who can not change his ways and Scout believes all of this. But during the trial, when Dill and Scout had to step out because Dill was crying, it is revealed to us that Dolphus Raymond may not be evil afterall. When he overhears Dill talking how the way Mr. Gilmer was talking to Tom and how he did not like it, Mr. Raymond agrees with Dill and offers him a drink from his paper sack.…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Jem and Scout will believe Dill because they think he is smart and knows everything. In the book Dill says,"I figure if he'd come out and sit a spell with us he might not feel better." (Pg62) Dill thinks he doesn't feel good because he had been shut up and has nothing to eat but cats. Dill made all this up and Jem and Scout believed him. Clearly, Jem and…

    • 387 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Believe it or not To Kill a Mockingbird is a love story in numerous ways. This novel shows love by the way characters treat each other and care for others. Atticus cares for his kids and treats them like a loving parent would. Jem, Dill, and Scout care about each other like best friends should, and they also care about others. Atticus's devotion to Tom Robinson's case is a great example of how To Kill a Mockingbird is a love story.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    People will always be judged regardless of race, gender or any other factor and the thing that can be done to change this is changing perspective. This is shown throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, as Jem and Scout explore multiple perspectives to help them understand different people. They are forced to deal with mature topics at young ages as their father, Atticus, defends a negro man in a rape trial where he is accused by a white man. This is controversial in their small county and ultimately causes for them to meet new people who may at first seem unusual. Although, it is natural to immediately judge someone, looking at the situation from their perspective can affect the actions one takes.…

    • 1835 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Dill had unexpectedly shown up at the Finches house one night, claimed that he was "running away from home". Scout was going to bed one night when she discovered a foreign entity under her bed. Realizing that it was only Dill, Scout proceeded to smuggle some food from the kitchen to give to him. Jem, having a bit more sense, is worried that Dill's parents were troubled by Dill's absence. When neither Scout nor Dill made any move to go inform any adult, Jem took it upon himself to be the voice of reason.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    To Kill a Mocking Bird is one of the most widely recognized pieces of American literature. Through the eyes of a child, Harper Lee takes the reader on a journey that examines one of the most controversial topics in history of the nation – civil rights. From Scout’s innocent perspective, Lee challenges cultural norms and stereotypes, and asks the audience to question their personal concepts of courage, justice, and morality. Summary Lee begins by introducing the audience to Scout, her family and Dill, and the notable inhabitants of Depression-era Maycomb, Alabama.…

    • 1735 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Contemplation: simply fiction or a nebulous memoir? A well known adage in the literary world, is for writers to “write what they know”. In many cases this rings to be true, perhaps the writers will set their story in a place they once lived, base a character on someone they once knew. It’s quite evident that in the novels Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird there are striking similarities between these novels and their respective authors’ own lives.…

    • 1973 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story about two young siblings, Jeremy Atticus Finch, or Jem, and Jean Louise Finch who is mostly referred to as Scout and is the narrator of the story. To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the deep south called Maycomb, Alabama. Jem and Scout are the major characters in the story, however, there are very important minor characters. Calpurnia, Dill, Heck Tate, and Walter Cunningham are all minor characters that have a significant impact. Minor characters are not major characters for a reason, but still have a significant impact on the story because they help contribute to many of the subplots which help develop the story as a whole.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays