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Tolerance and Ambiguity in To Kill a Mockingbird

Tolerance is acceptance of feelings or habits which are different from ones own. In today’s world, tolerance is important because we must learn to understand one another in order to move forward as a community. In certain situations we might never know why people do things. Accepting and tolerating is sometimes all we can do. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee shows the theme of tolerance and ambiguity through the characters Scout, Arthur “Boo” Radley. Jean Louise or “Scout” is the narrator throughout this novel. She seems unreliable in some was. In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout starts off as only 6 years old. Since she is so young it is not likely she understands everything around her. Her interpretation of events could be far from the truth. “…he dined on cats and raw squirrels, his teeth were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped and he drooled most of the time.” (13) Now, all of the children are far to young to remember “Boo” and what he looked like before he became isolated in his house. The whole description seems a little drastic and far fetched. All the children of Maycomb are brainwashed in a sense. From stories and imagination, they all assume the worst of old Boo Radley. “Jem said if Dill wanted to get himself killed, all he had to do was go up and knock on the front door.” (13) It is doubtful that this is true, as readers we must tolerate Scout’s age and imagination, we may be surprised at how far she can take the readers into believing these things. Mrs. Dubose is a neighbor to the Finch family. She comes across as a grumpy, mean old lady. “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers!” After saying this to Scout’s brother Jem, he is infuriated and destroys Mrs. Dubose’s flower garden. Jem was forced to read to her everyday after that. Mrs. Dubose was surprisingly tolerant of Jem and his actions, as well as other things. Mrs. Dubose had cancer and was in constant pain and suffering. Mrs. Dubose is a good character of ambiguity. The people of Maycomb need to see her from a different angle, she is a old woman who is in a lot of pain, and all that pain and suffering comes out of her as mean, and grumpy. Arthur “Boo” Radley is another good character of ambiguity. Aside from most likely being a little weird, how does anybody know he isn’t lonely and wants out of his cell called home? “Will you take me home?” Boo asked who is now a 9 year old girl to walk him, a grown man, home. People have to see and understand him from different perspectives. He is still human and has fears and feelings too. The themes tolerance and ambiguity is show through the characters Scout, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley. Readers must tolerate Scout as a little girl, and understand that the things she witness might be exaggerated or a little bit bigger then what they really are. Mrs. Dubose is a dying woman who expresses her pain in the form of anger and rudeness. Boo Radley might be scary on the outside, but on the inside he is human too, he can feel and understand things just like anybody else. The stereotype against him is not fair, and the reader needs to see past his exterior. Author Harper Lee is a fantastic author and wrote a perfect book representing the themes tolerance and ambiguity.