Peter Baskerville, an Australian entrepreneur, once said “The ignorant are ignorant of their ignorance.” The idea of those that are ignorant not realizing they are uneducated on a certain topic is seen throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The ignorance that is seen in the book regarding race, gender and social class is not seen within one person, but seen as a societal standard within the community. This societal standard is what allows the ignorant to not realize that their way of thought is not just or fair. To Kill a Mockingbird shows that ignorance is not something that defines a person, but defines and joins together a community. It is those that have true knowledge that are seen as preposterous outcasts. Through the racial ignorance held by the people of Maycomb, the whole …show more content…
Mr. Dolphus Raymond is believed, by Scout, to be an “evil man” because he had mixed children and he comes into town drinking whiskey while drunk (Lee 267). In reality, Mr. Raymond only acts drunk by stumbling around while drinking Coca-Cola, not whiskey, in order to give the town a reason for his nontraditional lifestyle (Lee 267-268). Mr. Raymond knew that there was nothing wrong with the way he lived his life. He understood that people are people, regardless of what they look like on the outside. He also understood that the town needed a reason for his behavior because they truly could not comprehend how he lived with black people and had mixed children without one (Lee 268).
Because Harper Lee includes Mr. Raymond explanation of his reason, the reader can see that Mr. Raymond was aware that he was an outcast in his town. He was also aware that he, alone, could not fight the racial ignorance that flowed so deeply throughout Maycomb. The outcasts of ignorance find it easier to create a show than to fight the uphill battle that is educating the