Illusion Vs Reality In To Kill A Mockingbird

Perception is the lens through which people view the world around them. Some can see the truth buried beneath the surface, while others shake their heads, their eyes too blinded by hate and fear to see the reality of the situation. In the critically-acclaimed novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, written by the masterful Harper Lee, one of the most prevalent themes incorporated within, is the concept of illusion versus reality. Set in a small town in southern Alabama, To Kill a Mocking Bird tells the enthralling tale of a moralistic lawyer named Atticus Finch and his decision to defend a Negro man being prosecuted for allegedly raping a white girl. During the course of this novel, Lee also depicts the mischievous exploits of his children, Jem and
Seated outside the courthouse, was one Dolphus Raymond, a man notorious for both his drinking habits and his bizarre preference for Negroes over white people. When Scout and her friend Dill decide to take a breather from the tense happenings of the courtroom, they come across Mr. Raymond lying on the grass. He offers Dill a sip from his paper bag to quieten his nerves and despite Scout’s misgivings, Dill complies, only to make the astonishing discovery that the drink was “nothing but Coca-Cola” (Lee 267). Perplexed about a “being who deliberately perpetrated fraud against himself” (Lee 268), Scout questions Mr. Raymond on the rationale behind his facade. He confesses he is not much of a drinker, but goes under the pretense because people find it easier to excuse his behaviour if they just believe “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” (Lee 268). In truth, he merely finds it easier to interact with Negroes because, like Dill, he finds “the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too” (Lee 269) sickening. Jaded by all the racial discrimination aimed at black people, Mr. Raymond almost exclusively only socializes with the black community of Maycomb, further ostracizing himself from the prejudiced minds of his white peers. From
As a boy, Arthur was rumoured to have been involved with the wrong crowd and was locked up at home like a prisoner after a bout of trouble with the law. Not having been seen for over fifteen years, Jem and Scout treat his existence as something akin to Bigfoot or the boogeyman, not particularly fearsome, but intriguing enough to be the object of their curiosity for years to come. They invent outlandish descriptions of his appearance, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall…his hands were bloodstained…there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 16), reenact scenes of his life, and even come up with several schemes to lure him out of the house. Eventually, as Jem and Scout grow older, the mystery of Boo Radley fades to the back of their minds: “I was well into the second grade at school and tormenting Boo Radley became passé” (Lee 132). Then, in late autumn, the summer after the Tom Robinson case, Jem and Scout are assaulted by Bob Ewell on their way home. Saved by the unlikeliest hero imaginable, Scout is amazed to discover that not only was Boo never the monster she thought him to be, but he was a mockingbird. As Scout leads Boo home that night, she tries looking at the world through Boo’s