Significant Part // To Kill A Mockingbird

A significant part for me in To Kill A Mockingbird would be the time Dill and Scout met Mr. Dolphus Raymond. Dill felt sick to his stomach during the trial, so Scout took him outside for awhile. While they were out there they encountered Mr. Raymond. He gave Dill a drink out of his mysterious brown sack of which everyone thought had alcohol in it. Scout warned Dill about Mr. Raymond before he started to drink whatever was in the sack which happened to just be Coca Cola.
When Dill stated to Scout that it was only Coca Cola, I felt like that was a very significant part. The significance in it was all of the rumors and gossip about Mr. Raymond being a horrible drunken man were shattered, because all of the rumors and gossip were nothing but rumors and gossip. Mr. Raymond went on to explain his way of life and why he chooses to pretend he's an alcoholic. I thought it was fascinating and slightly hard to wrap my mind around. Mr. Raymond was living his life as a lie, but not in the way most do. He was pretending to be a drunk so that everything else he did that wasn't "normal" in the eyes of society would seem "okay." Mr. Raymond explains in one sentence why he lives the way he does:

"...but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live." (201)

One could use the argument, "Why care what people think. Live the way you want to live." I suppose this could work a little better in our time, when people seem to be a bit more eccentric, but the human race will never stop judging others and creating rumors and gossip. So, Mr. Raymond (in the 1930's) probably felt that it was a better idea if he just lied and lived his life how he wanted to live it.


"Because you're children and you can understand it."

I felt like Harper Lee did a good job of explaining in her novel that children are capable of much more than adults think they are. In fact, children may be better at understanding problems and feelings in the world than adults are...another fascinating thing to think about. Lastly, Mr. Raymond goes on to say:

"Cry about the simple fact hell people give other people...without even stopping to think they're people too."

This statement made by Mr. Raymond was a perfect, yet simple way of summing up his life, colored people's lives, white people's lives, and anyone in the world's lives. We as people don't always understand the hurtful things we say to each other or how we treat each other. I love how Mr. Raymond mentions colored people, white people, and any people in general. He simply stated that it doesn't matter what color of skin you are, we as humans don't deserve to be treated differently than another. Too often do we just say without thinking if it's going to hurt that person. It's a problem we all know about and we are all well aware of it. It was important for Mr. Raymond to say this to Dill and Scout to make them aware of it at a young age. It was definitely a significant moment for Dill and Scout to take the time to get to know Mr. Raymond when everyone else judged him without getting to know him.