In the small town of Maycomb County, everyone knows everyone -- or they think they do -- and rumors are spread quickly based on people’s corrupt image of a person. This is a common issue in To Kill a Mockingbird. Whispers are constantly rushing through the town about certain individuals who seem like bad or scary people when in reality they are kind people who are just trying to live their life. For example, Boo Radley is perceived as someone who eats squirrels and cats, yet near the end of the book, he risks his own life to save Scout and Jem. Many characters in the novel have outward appearances that do not reflect their personalities. This is most obvious in Arthur “Boo” Radley, Dolphus Raymond and Mrs. Dubose.
Boo Radley is one of the characters most affected by this conception of deceiving personalities. He is
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Dubose is the third most obvious character who is strongly misunderstood in the novel. To the kids, she is perceived as a rude old lady who is very racist and does not approve of Atticus’ work for Tom Robinson. They don’t know about her addiction or about any of her health issues and are too quick to judge. Atticus says to Jem, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.”(Lee 112). This quote shows Mrs. Dubose is actually a very courageous woman because she knows her time is running out but she keeps fighting. Atticus used Mrs. Dubose as an example so Jem could understand what real courage looked like. After Jem realizes his mistake, he began to feel guilty for cutting all the flower heads off. At that point in the novel, the kids realize Mrs. Dubose isn’t just a mean old lady, but that she has more dimensions to her personality. As the evidence shows, Mrs. Dubose is another character in this book that is perceived differently than how she actually