Who Is Dolphus Raymond In To Kill A Mockingbird

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A drunk. A rich family man who only wants the best for his kids. These alias seem to radically contrast each other, and yet, they all can be different parts of the same persona. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, consistently reinforces the theme that people are never fully understood unless the person struggling to understand puts themselves in the other person’s shoes. Lee shows this by using diction and imagery to characterize Dolphus Raymond as a person who has more character to him then meets the eye.
Dolphus Raymond is initially characterized as a different person than what Harper Lee reveals latter in the novel. When Raymond is first mentioned in the novel, Dill remarks that he “look[s] like trash,” and he is seen drinking what is thought to be liquor out of a paper bag (Lee 214). Raymond is seen as a drunk in Maycomb and this is emphasized in this passage. Lee uses sensory imagery to further describe this scene by showing Raymond’s “yellow drugstore straws,” further describing the scene that is Dolphus Raymond actively drinking alcohol (Lee 214). Dolphus Raymond is then characterized more by showing him as a person who enjoys sitting with colored people more than white people, which was extremely rare in the deep south of Alabama. All of these ideas show Raymond is be a curiosity of Maycomb, however it is later …show more content…
First, Raymond is seen as a drunk outcast of Maycomb society who prefers to sit with the colored people. Soon, he is revealed to be a sober family man who honestly does not want to deal with the Maycomb citizens’ opinions. Harper Lee used dialogue and imagery to further expose the true character of Dolphus Raymond throughout the passages of the story. In life, there are many layers to people’s personalities, however there may be reasons for them to be covered up and not shown to the rest of the
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