To Kill A Mockingbird Good Judgment Analysis

“Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment” - Jim Horning. A leading figure in the evolution of computer science, Jim Horning, has learned through a lifetime of experience the importance of judgment. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is riddled with judgment. The narrator and main character, Scout Finch, is growing up and seeing new perspectives. She lives with her brother Jem and widowed father, Atticus. They live in the Alabama town of Maycomb, which is suffering through the Great Depression. Compared to others, the Finch family is reasonably well-off. During one of their summers, Jem and Scout become friends with a boy named Dill. Later on, the kids find out that Atticus has agreed to defend a

This external conflict is revealed outside the courthouse, after Scout asks Dolphus Raymond why he is the way he is. Dolphus replies by saying “‘oh yes, you mean why do I pretend? Well, it’s very simple,’ he said ‘Some folks don’t like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with ‘em, I don’t care if they don’t like it. I do say I don’t care if they don’t like it, right enough - but I don’t say the hell with ‘em, see?’” (268). Dolphus Raymond disagrees with racism so he finds a way around it. The black community in Maycomb is segregated, but he chooses to ignore the racial class the community has created and decides to live in his own way. He does not restrain himself to live like the higher class and look down upon the colored folks. In his own personal way, Dolphus Raymond fights the prejudice of the community. However, Scout and Dill are still confused. As the kids fail to understand why Dolphus pretends to drink, he clarifies by saying “‘I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey - that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does’” (268). Dolphus is misunderstood, the town knows that he chooses to live with the black community, but they do

As Scout states that his dishonesty makes him seem like a terrible person, Dolphus claims that “‘It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live’” (268). Even though Dolphus is a kind person, numerous people dislike him because he lives with a black women. Since the citizens of Maycomb do not understand his lack of racism, Dolphus appeases them by pretending to be drunk and giving them a reason. Dolphus Raymond is willing to live with his lie for the sake of his neighbors. Dolphus is an innocent man, he never hurts anybody and only wants to live with his family in peace. Dolphus symbolizes innocence and this makes him a “mockingbird,” a harmless creature that does nothing but sing its heart out. He understands why the events in the courtroom have made Dill sick. Dolphus Raymond believes that as Dill grows older he will not cry. He explains that Dill could cry “‘about the simple hell people give other people - without even thinking. Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too’” (269). In Maycomb people are divided between those who are respectful to colored people and those who believe colored folk have their place. Dolphus is in the middle. He likes the black