Who is dill harris in to kill a mockingbird

While Scout accepts Mr. Gilmer's rude treatment of Tom on the witness stand as normal, Dill starts crying uncontrollably when he sees Tom being treated so differently from the white witnesses.

He can't quite explain his feelings, but Mr. Raymond can. Let him get a little older and he won't get sick and cry […] about the simple hell people give other people—without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they're people, too. Dill's sensitivity to Maycomb's intolerance gives Scout and us a different model of how to respond to what's happening.

The contrast between Dill's angry tears and Scout's justification of Mr. In his play dramas with Jem and Scout, Dill plays all manner of characters but truly excels at portraying villains. He runs away to the Finches because he feels more welcome there than he does at home.

Gilmer speaks to Tom during his questioning. In this sense, Dill truly remains an innocent child throughout the novel, as both Atticus and Mr.

Raymond suggest that as children grow, they stop crying when they see injustice like this, and ultimately become either numb to it or go on to perpetuate it themselves. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:.

Chapter 14 Quotes. I felt sick. Related Themes: Growing Up. Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. Chapter 19 Quotes. Chapter 22 Quotes. Chapter 31 Quotes. Henry Lafayette Dubose. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Chapter 1. Jem maintains that it began the year Dill arrived, while Scout insists that they take a broader view.

She gives a brief account Dill is from Mississippi and is Nathan Radley returned to the house to imprison his brother. All of this fascinates Dill. Jem entertains Dill by describing what Boo looks like: tall and scarred with yellow teeth and fed on Chapter 2. Dill returns home to Mississippi in early September. Scout is miserable until she remembers that she Scout is bored, so she begins a letter to Dill.

Chapter 4. On the last day of school, Jem and Scout get out early. Dill arrives two days later on the train. He announces that he rode the train, helped Scout runs on wobbly legs back to Jem and Dill and then argues with Jem about who should get the tire.

Jem is furious, but 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, just as Scout doesn't know her mother. In his attempts to lure Boo Radley outside, Dill's not much different than Bob Ewell with Tom Robinson, although admittedly, Dill's intentions are nowhere near as heinous.

He tells enormous lies and concocts unlikely stories just as Mayella does during Tom's trial. He often pretends to be something he isn't, just like Dolphus Raymond does when he comes into town. After this first meeting Dill stays for the duration of each summer at his aunts house and then returning to his mother and stepfather for all we know at that time. Dill returns to and leaves Maycomb many times in the duration of the novel after that visit and their initial meeting.

Dill is dreamy, enigmatic and insecure. Unlike the Finch children he feels unwanted until they welcome him under their wing. Dill talks of his stepfather and mother as well off people who show him the sights of the urbanised area that they live in. In reality this is not what the picture is with Dill and his parents. They don't want him and he is passed from relative to relative in an attempt to be rid of him for some time.

He is moved on from his one relative to the next when they get tired making Dill feels unwanted although he doesn't show it. As a result of this when Dill comes to Maycomb and meets Jem and Scout, he feels comforted and contented to be with people who have time for him and who enjoy his company. At points in the book when Dill leaves, Scout and Jem miss him as he was the basis of their games during the entire summer.

To them Dill is another person to interact with, who plays their games with them and whose company they both enjoy. Dill is also like a book to them because as they interact more with him they unfold more and more of his past rousing their curiosity to want to find out more.

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