P1+DReeker

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By Webster’s dictionary tolerance is defined as opinions differing from one’s own. I didn’t really understand that so I’ll tell you what I think it means. To me tolerance is accepting someone or something for what it stands for. Without tolerance there would be non-stop violence and hatred. Tolerance plays a big part in our, because gays, lesbians and other minorities can express how they feel in public. The freedom of speech deals with a lot of tolerance especially with anarchists, freedom haters and people who just hate. With it we have established civilization and became what is known as a tolerant society.

When the book first came out readers wanted to know why was Scout, the young girl, narrating the story. The majority of people thought Scout was an unreliable narrator because children are not experienced enough in the real world to know right from wrong. I thought it was a good idea to show a youth’s point of view. Since most books were read from an adult’s eye, it was getting boring so when a child tells the story its sort of a new thing. “You mean we can’t play anymore?” says Scout which shows she’s at a young age and very immature. When Scout uses the word “play” it tells readers that she isn’t grown up yet. Scout shows a lot of tolerance towards Calpurnia because she treats Scout like her own child, sometimes a little too much. “Hush your mouth!” says Calpurnia toward Scout during dinner. That shows a lot of tolerance because Scout is white and Calpurnia is black. Scout had to accept that Calpurnia was the boss of her at the time.

Mrs. Dubose is a mean old lady in To Kill a Mockingbird. When Scout and Jem run across the front of her house Mrs. Dubose yells at them. The only thing Scout said was “hi”. She is a terrible example of tolerance because she’s taking the anger in her out on the world for no apparent reason. “Kids don’t have any manners these days”, said Mrs. Dubose, she’s yelling because she doesn’t have much time left on earth. When Scout runs across the yard and gets screamed at Scout is trying to be as polite as can be toward Mrs. Dubose. “Hello Atticus”, said Mrs. Dubose politely. When Mrs. Dubose shows tolerance the person she’s talking to has to be polite first. With her its like that old saying, “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.”

The only other character that shows tolerance is Tom Robinson, especially in court. He didn’t scream at the Dad of Mayella or her so that shows more than enough tolerance. “He hit me”, said Mayella which was one of the many false accusations against Tom Robinson. It’s not her fault she saying this, it’s because if she doesn’t, her father will beat her up even more. He is one of the good examples about tolerance but still Scout has a lot more to talk about. During the trial Tom is calm, cool, and collected except when he almost burst into tears. When he said, “I felt sorry for her” that shocked everybody because he’s black. That’s the part where he went a little overboard and showed little tolerance. He had the most bravery out of all of them because he was going to die if he lost the trial.

In conclusion tolerance can be shown in everyone if you just look hard enough. Each and everyone of the characters I talked about show some or a lot of tolerance. Although this essay was hard I kind of enjoyed writing it. If Mrs. Dubose could show tolerance I’m sure everyone else can show some kind of tolerance.