In chapter 16, Dolphus Raymond is introduced to us and is a little different from the rest of the town. Mr. Raymond is a drunk and he drinks because he was engaged to a white woman and right after the wedding rehearsal she shot herself. Ever since then he has always been a little tipsy. Mr. Raymond comes from an old, respected family and he treats his “mixed” (183) children with respect. Jem said that it is sad to have mixed children. “They don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have em cause they’re half colored, so they’re just in-betweens, don’t belong anywhere.” (183) Dolphus raymond thinks differently than most white folks in Maycomb. He likes colored people more than white people. He had his kids with a colored woman. He sits in the colored section of the square instead of with the white section where any normal white Maycomb local would be sitting.
Harper Lee brought this different, brave character into the book to show something. Dolphus Raymond is a similar character to Atticus in some ways. For instance, they both care a great deal about their kids. They also have similar views on colored people because neither of them are racist. Atticus went to the jail cell to protect and sit with Tom Robinson and Dolphus Raymond is sitting in the colored section of the square. Harper Lee is showing that Atticus is not alone because both Atticus and Mr. Raymond view colored people and their kids the same way. Both of them are from an old, respected family and Harper Lee uses Dolphus Raymond to to show that not all of the white people in Maycomb are racist. By Mr. Raymond sitting in the colored section, it is showing that he is on the colored peoples side.
Do you think that their are more people like Atticus and Dolphus Raymond in Maycomb?With Atticus and Dolphus Raymond having so many similar views, do you think they will do anything together to act upon some of their beliefs? Why do you think Harper Lee portrayed Mr. Raymond so similar to Atticus? How would you feel if you were a mixed child in Maycomb? Do you think that Mr. Raymond is trying to prove something by sitting in the colored section?
I don't think there are many more people like Atticus and Raymond in Maycomb. I imagine that there are people who have similar views as them, and I am sure someday Jem and Scout will think like their father. I think that Harper Lee is making Mr. Raymond sit in the colored section to make the statement that we are the same, and there shouldn't be sections for colored and whites. Also he sits in the colored section because he is sitting with his wife and kids.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Mr. Raymond doesn't like white people because of what his white fiance did? Why do you think Mr. Raymond sent two of his kids up north?
I think there are more people like Atticus and Dolphus Raymond in Maycomb, just they are afraid to express their opinions. Maycomb is a racist town, and people who treat blacks as equals aren't always treated well, like Atticus (for defending Tom Robinson in his trial). I don't think we can say if Raymond and Atticus will do anything together to act upon their beliefs yet because besides their similar ideas, we don't know if they have a connection with each other, if they're friends or not. Harper Lee made Raymond similar to Atticus because she wants to show there are other people besides Atticus in Maycomb who want to defend Tom Robinson too.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a mixed child in Maycomb I would feel alone and not wanted. Like Jem said, white people don't like mixed people because they're partly black, black people don't want mixed people because they're partly white. Mr. Raymond sent two of his kids up north because in the north they don't care if you're mixed races. "But Mr. Dolphus, now, they say he's shipped two of his up north. They don't mind 'em up north" (Lee, 215).
What impact do you think Mr. Raymond will have on the book? Do you think he will affect the outcome of the trial? Will he ever get over what his white fiance did?
I feel as if Mr. Raymond won't resurface again in the book, but his influence on Scout is why he was brought up to begin with. HIs impact on Scout, though not verbally said, was big, as Scout has been introduced to another part of life. She may not know it herself, but she has reached a new level of maturity. Scout, being almost nine years old, is slowly leaving childhood, just as Jem did around her age. The topic of Mr. Raymond also, on the flip side, showed once again the improvement of Jem's maturity. He seems to have fully grasped the racist topics that service around Maycomb, and it has become his job to teach them to the developing Scout.
ReplyDeleteI think that there are more people like Atticus, and Raymond, but they are afraid that something may happen to them, or people won't accept their opinion. I think that if I was put into this story, and I felt the same way as Atticus or Raymond, I would be afraid too. I think that Atticus would try to do something, but never with Raymond. Raymond will most likely be too drunk to try to help the colored people. I think that Raymond is a very interesting character, but the chances of anything else being done with him in the book is very slim. The chances of Raymond actually trying to show something by sitting with the colored people is very slim. In the novel, nobody comes over to him, and makes fun of him, or tries to give him a hard time, so there must be something else behind him that we don't know yet.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your theory could be true Ezra, I think Mr. Raymond serves a different purpose. Throughout the entire book, Harper Lee has been trying to drive home the fact that to get along and exist in Maycomb, you have to be part of a group. We can see many examples from Boo Radley and Mr. Raymond's children. Since neither one is directly affiliated with a faction of Maycomb, they are outcasts that cannot be part of anything because they are in between groups. Even though these are extreme examples we can see even smaller ones such as the Finch household. Atticus and the kids are considered different since they are of higher background and more educated then the common folk, and we can see how even Scout is being ostracized for this in school and by the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteWill there be anymore "outcasts" in the Book? Will there be a shift in groups and how will the neighborhood change?
Being a mixed chilled in Maycomb would be very hard. If you were black on the outside, you would be ignored by other white children because of your skin color and would also be ignored by black children because you are part white. The same goes for you if you were a mixed child who has white skin. You would yet again be ignored by whites because you are part black and by blacks because you have white skin. The only people you would feel comfortable around would be your parents, other wise, your an outcast to the rest of the community.
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