How do race, gender, and class influence Dill Harris's character development in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Charles Baker Harris, nicknamed Dill, is a young, white boy who is very small for his age and the best friend of Jem and Scout Finch. Based on clues in the book, we can deduce a few things about his social class and background that help us better understand his characterization as an individual deeply sensitive about the issues of oppression and racism.

One thing we know about Dill is that he has no knowledge of his biological father, a point that deeply embarrasses him. He was given his father's last name, Harris, as we can tell based on the fact that his mother's sister, Miss Rachel Haverford, still goes by her maiden name, making both sisters Haverfords. Yet, Dill's father has clearly never been a part of his life. One can assume it is possibly because he is an illegitimate child. If he is an illegitimate child, we know he is most likely a member of the lower working class since birth out of wedlock has been much less common among the higher classes over the centuries.

Another clue that signifies he is a member of the lower working class is that his mother works, specifically as an assistant to a photographer. It was rare for women to work in the 1930s, especially in the higher classes. Plus, working as an assistant requires no education; therefore, his mother fits in with the lower working class, along with all hourly-wage earners, such as artisans. Finally, Scout also notes that, as Dill scarfs down leftover cornbread, he customarily chews with only his front teeth (Ch. 14). Only members of the lower class are likely to have poor table manners.

The fact that Dill feels embarrassed and ostracized by society for not having a biological father and that he comes from a lower class help explain Dill's ability  to empathize with other ostracized lower-class members of society, such as Southern African Americans. We see Dill's ability to empathize when he begins sobbing during Tom Robinson's cross-examination, saying, "That old Mr. Gilmer doin' him thataway, talking so hateful to him--," whereas, in contrast to Dill's reaction, Scout's own response is, "Well, Dill, after all he's just a Negro" (Ch. 19). Dill's characterization as being an abandoned, ostracized member of the lower class, in contrast to Scout's characterization as being a member of the educated class, helps show why Dill would much more instinctively empathize with Tom Robinson and others who are equally oppressed and ostracized.