TKMB Dill development

As the story develops, my understanding of Dill has also developed as well. From the beginning of the story, he was always a child who loved to be imaginative, and make up stories for Jem and Scout to act out. They asked him to make up stories and make up games to satisfy their boredom. Initially I had thought that Dill’s imaginative mind was just a result of his dynamic and curious personality, and that he was creative because there was nothing left but to be creative, before Scout and Jem had found him all of those summers ago. “The Radley Place fascinated Dill. In spite of our warnings and explanations it drew him as the moon drew water.” (pg 10) Dill was mesmerized by the stories that had been told to him about the Radleys, and his curiosity had overcome his fear of Boo, caused by the many rumors that were spread. He wanted to know whether or not the rumors were true, and what Boo Radley really was alive. He was not really fascinated by the Radley house itself, but the truth inside of it, and the parts of it that were left to his imagination. Imagination mostly occurs from curiosity, and Dill is a naturally curious child. When there is something that one doesn’t know, they tend to imagine what it is, such as Jem’s description of Boo Radley, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped.” (pg 16) Jem does not know for sure how Boo Radley looks like, so he makes up what Boo appears to look like in his imagination. Dill does this not only with cases involving Boo Radley but multiple other times as well. But as the story develops, Dill has evolved from a child who is carefree and uses his imagination to satisfy his boredom and curiosity, to a child who uses his imagination to escape from his life full of neglect. Both Dill’s mother and new father show no interest in Dill, and do not enjoy his company, so Dill uses his imagination to create a better life than the one that he has. Dill uses his