Dill's Struggles In To Kill A Mockingbird

Dills empathy matures as he faces all the injustices in the book. Dills curiosity overrides his thoughts in the beginning of the book. Jem, Scout, and Dill all want to see Arthur Radley on their next door neighbor. Arthur stabbed his father in the leg and was place in the courthouse basement. The sheriff told Mr. Radley that Arthur would die in the basement from all the mold and asbestos.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Dill can be best described as the everyman archetype because he provides a sense of comfort and comedic relief to the reader. Charles Baker Harris, better known as Dill to the reader, is introduced almost immediately in the book. He is the best friend of Jem and Scout and assists them in their ridiculous shenanigans of childhood. One important event he was in attendance for happened to be the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man, versus Mayella Ewell, a white woman. He, and many others, were quite outraged by the outcome of the trial.

(Lee 191). Here, Dill explains how his parent’s don’t get him involved with their daily lives as much which is his reason for running away from home to Scout and Jem. He describes how his parents would buy him things but wouldn’t give the full love and attention most parents would give. This obviously upsets Dill and gives him the feeling of being forsaken and mistreated. This is a reasonable explanation for why Dill began to cry during the trial.

When we are first introduced to Dill he is a kid without a father and becomes best friends with the main characters Scout and Jem. Throughout the book, we see Dill is going through a change and has a conflict with himself. As we read, right away we learn more traits about Dill. He is curious, imaginative, and sensitive. In many parts he shows that he is curious about many things.

Although this occupied his seven year old imagination, he still held strong to his mind 's pledge to be needed and appreciated. Although this is a highly strong and unlikely inference this could be debated, by the textual evidence of Dill going back to mississippi because through his experiences in Maycomb and through Jem he begins to think and act more like this ten year old boy. As the saying goes’ “Respect your elders.” Although this refers to obeying them Dill kicks it up a notch and follows in Jem’s footsteps through “peer pressure” and social class. Dill feels unwanted as his biological father isn’t in the picture but in the middle of the novel he regains his idea of a family unit when he gets a new dad.

Dill and Scout’s characterizing Atticus in this section impacts the theme of the death of innocence. Dill and Scout have just witnessed the trial of Tom Robinson, a racially unfair trial. The contrast of Atticus’s kindness towards the witnesses and Mr. Gilmer’s harsh words have a drastic effect on Dill. Dill feels so sick that Scout has to take him outside of the courthouse to calm down. Dill describes Atticus as a kind and fair man and saying that Mr. Gilmer was calling Tom “boy all the time and sneering at him” (Page 266).

Just like the bond and relationship between Boo and Scout. It’s is so powerful, words aren't necessary. On the night they met, when Scout had taken Boo to go see sleeping Jem she says, “I was beginning to learn his body English. His hand tightened on mine and he indicated that he wanted to leave” (Lee 244). After all the times Dill, Jem and her feared Boo, when they meet she seems to start to understand Boo.

Character Analysis Albert Einstein once said, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.” Einstein encouraged people to learn from the past, and when curiosity comes their way embrace it. Jem’s inquisitive mind makes him pursue tasks that should not be done. Scout’s active mind finds trouble, because the curious side always sticks with her. Due to his curiosity, Dill runs away from his home and travels to Maycomb to spend the summer with his friends.

He recreates stories, visits dream worlds, and even runs away from home. Curiosity appears in several obvious places. When his curious nature leads him to, along with Jem and Scout, run through the Radley garden at midnight, the adults are not pleased. In this way, curiosity can get the characters in and out of trouble. However, Dill conjures up an excuse that saves them.

In chapters four through eight, the audience gets to experience the continuous growth of Scout through her own eyes. Lee’s diction portrays Scout’s curiosity when says that the gum I found was fresh, and “ I licked it and waited for a while. When I did not die I crammed it into my mouth” (Lee 1). In this instance, Lee is trying to remind us of Scout’s innocence and compelled mindset, due to her young age. Similarly, when Dill comes back to Maycomb in the summer Scout starts to feel like a third wheel.

Dill surprisingly ran away from his family and came to Scout's house to see them and he stayed the night. Jem got a feeling that Atticus wasn't where he said he was and they found him in the jail as he waited for people that he was expecting. -Summary for Ch. 16-20 (AT LEAST FOUR SENTENCES): In chapters 16-20, Scout asked why the mob wanted to hurt Atticus even though she did not get an answer.

1 In the beginning of the To Kill a MockingBird, Scout, and Jem go to Miss Rachel’s collard patch, and Instead of seeing the collards, Scout, and Jem run into a 7 year old boy, named Charles Baker, “Dill” Harris for short. They confront him, and ask Dill the randomist of questions very unsure about him, Scout and Jem learned that Dill come down every summer to see his aunt Miss Rachel. Jem and Scout come to the conclusion to stay with Dill as friends, after all of this, Scout tells the story of Boo Radley, and the next day Scout, Jem, and Dill play around with a Tire of the street, Scout goes into the tire, and Jem pushes rolling her, but after this Scout rolls into the Radley’s Yard, and quickly Jem goes, and retrieves her back, Jem was dared to go up to the Radley's front door, and knock the door, Jem has never pulled down a dare, and doesn’t want to ruin his flawless record and runs to the door slowly, and knocks, and runs away from the yard grabbing Scout. 2

Atticus told them not to worry. Tom Robinson is killed trying to escape the prison. Scout and Jem begin noticing ways that they are becoming adults. When school starts, Scout is no longer afraid to pass the Radley house. During Halloween, Scout and Jem were on their way back from a pageant and they were attacked.

Author Radley represented how easy it is to be dehumanized and what it took to simply prove himself a person, of which is the center of any discrimination. At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Dill and Jem shared some questionable similarities to Jim Crow, while Scout represented the

Dill said he ran away from home, then he got to stay at Atticus’s house with Jem