P4+CNichols

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What is it to be tolerant? The word tolerant is defined as “able to withstand or endure an adverse environmental condition”. The importance of tolerance is still relevant today. Without tolerance segregation would still be legal, minorities would still be oppressed and taken advantage of, and most of all it would make racism and bigotry acceptable, which by today’s standards, it is not. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” the author Harper Lee uses and teaches the theme of tolerance by using an array of colorful characters. First of all would be Scout Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch, and the narrator of the novel. Next would be Mrs. Dubose, a seemingly nasty and horrible old woman afflicted by a horribly painful disease. Lastly would be Atticus Finch, father of Jem and Scout Finch, and a lawyer. These three characters convey the theme of tolerance the best of any characters in the novel.

First of the three characters is Scout Finch, a young girl who acts as the narrator in the novel. Some would wonder why the author would use a child as a narrator in the novel, but if analyzed closely enough it becomes very clear. Scout is a child; therefore she is an innocent, an incorruptible source of information for what is happening in the novel. The fact of her age opens up a sense of purity. She doesn’t see people for their skin, she has no grasp of religion, or even gender really. She just sees people for people, in a sense she sees the world “through colorblind eyes”.

The next character would be Mrs. Dubose, a character you would just hate through out the book. However the way the theme is used with this character is much different from that of the character Scout Finch. Harper Lee creates a character so mean and nasty; you couldn’t help but hate her guts. However it is later told by Atticus that the reason for her spite and contempt for everything around her. With the fact that Mrs. Dubose had cancer you immediately feel guilty and the pity for the character. She uses your guilt as the theme, that people may be mean but there is always a reason for it, be it cancer or abuse, therefore you should accept them no matter what.

Probably the best and most obvious use of the theme of tolerance would be the character Atticus Finch. He is a man who respects every person was he would respect himself no matter if they were black, white, female, male etc. A good example of that would be that he respects his own children so highly that he has them refer to him by his first name, because when you use a name like “Father” it gives the sense that he is above you, and Atticus doesn’t believe above anyone or anyone is above him. Though the best use of the theme with Atticus would be a quote he says in the novel, “You don’t know anyone until you have crawled into their skin and walked around”, which essentially means don’t judge their actions until you know the reason why they do it.

In conclusion these three characters are the best examples of the theme of tolerance in Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The theme is used differently with each character. With Scout the theme is used subtly, with Mrs. Dubose guilt is used to convey the theme, and the character Atticus himself is an embodiment of Harper Lee’s theme in the book.