P1+SVielma

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Tolerance is to put up with or accept someone for who they are. It is important today because without tolerance no one would be able to get along. Everyone would be annoyed with each other and not be able to put up with the difference in personalities. This is why tolerance is so important. In this novel the author uses the characters Scout, Mrs. Dubose, and Atticus to show the theme of tolerance.

The author uses Scout to show tolerance by making her an unreliable narrator. She is unreliable because she doesn’t always understand the things that happen around her. Her explanations and descriptions can’t really be trusted because she doesn’t understand what is going on. An example would be when her father, Atticus, tries to explain to her why Boo Radley doesn’t come out of his house and how he is not a bad person, she doesn’t quite understand what he means by this. Scout demonstrates tolerance when her teacher overreacts to the fact that she can read. She puts up with what her teacher says and accepts that she wants to teach her how to read in her own way.

Mrs. Dubose comes off as being a mean old lady. People think of her as a mean old lady because she is judgmental towards everyone as they walk by her house. She is Atticus’ hero and she is a very strong woman and shows a great deal of tolerance. She shows tolerance when Atticus comes by and compliments her she stops being mean and appreciates that someone is giving her some attention. She also tolerates what Jem did and instead of being angry she asks him to read to her in the afternoons.

Atticus has to have tolerance because of his job and his life at home. He has to accept whoever it is he is defending. For example when he accepted to defend Tom Robinson he put up with the people of the town being upset with him for defending a black man. He accepted the things people did and said to him. He has to accept his kids and put up with the things they do. He puts up with Scout asking questions and always getting into fights. He also has to be patient with Jem because at his age he understands things and needs to be guided.

Without tolerance people would be lost. People need tolerance to be able to live in peace. They need to accept others for who they are and not always judge before they even get to know a person. Without tolerance some things could get out of control and people could lose their self control and do something they might regret. Lack of tolerance could lead to many things but if too many things are being tolerated easily then people could get away with anything. The key is to tolerate people and be patient but not to an extent where people could take advantage.