Empathy In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Showing compassion towards someone may be difficult, especially if one has a preexisting bias against that person. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee explores this topic, including how to decide if one is worthy of compassion. The citizens of Maycomb can be quick to judge anyone who is “different”, without fully understanding that person’s backstory. Mayella Ewell is one character who is often subject to this judgment, specifically during Tom Robinson’s trial. During this eventful period, she gains lots of negative attention and is shown no compassion. Because the people of Maycomb see in “black and white”, they are unable and unwilling to fathom that there is another side to the story, thus depriving Mayella of the sympathy she deserves. Mayella Ewell is worthy of compassion because her father is abusive, she does all of the work at home, and she does not deserve her family’s poor reputation.

Scout does not like all of the prejudices in the town, and world, all shows a lot of empathy for how young she is in this quote, “I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks,” (304) Atticus, Scout, and minor characters show the importance of empathy. Atticus always thinks about how people feel, scout shows empathy throughout the novel, especially at the end, and some minor characters show some empathy. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee demonstrates the importance of empathy.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (p.30) The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee includes a plethora of essential themes that make one think deeply. The story takes place in the 1930’s when segregation tensions were high. The narrative is told through the eyes of a young girl, Jean Louise (Scout) Finch. Scout’s father, Atticus is a lawyer fighting a case for an African American man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, both Scout and her older brother Jeremy (Jem) Finch learn many life lessons that are crucial for all children to learn about. One fundamental lesson learned by the children, is the lesson of having empathy.

In conclusion, To Kill A Mockingbird has many examples of how characters show empathy to other characters. In this novel, one of the main themes or lessons Lee tries to teach the reader is empathy for others. To judge a person, you must walk in his “shoes” or “skin”. Throughout the novel, Atticus, Jem and Scout Finch mature and start showing empathy more and more and to more and more people. If it weren’t for empathy, no one would have defended Tom Robinson. A wise person told me many of our lawyers today as kids they decided to be lawyers because of Atticus Finch’s heroic

Empathy can be defined as making a connection to someone during a situation. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, empathy is a main part in some of the characters’ lives. Without empathy, the novel would lack many components that make the main characters, Jem and Scout, who they are.

Empathy is a recurring theme that is represented in the learning experiences of Jem. For example, when Jem sees Scout hurting Walter Cunningham, he takes a real look at Walter and realises that he couldn’t help being in the condition he is in and he deserves to be treated better. “Walter looked as if he had been raised on fish food… he fingered the straps if his overalls, nervously picking at the metal hooks.”pg. 25. One small gesture can communicate to the reader the true influence of empathy.

Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, empathy is learned and demonstrated in the characters lives. It is one if the novels defining themes as Lee’s character, Atticus teaches it to his children, Scout and Jem. His children are also taught it by Tom Robinson, a person that Atticus is defending in law.

In this lesson Atticus teaches Scout that you must understand where someone comes from in order to show true sympathy and compassion. Now before Scout judges someone she steps into their shoes. Allowing her to show compassion towards that person and many more. She has learned that the most compassion you can give someone is sympathy and understanding. Jem also learned these lessons but through experiences and challenges he had to face and go through.

One major theme in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is that empathy can change how one reacts to his surroundings. In chapter three, protagonist Scout has a bad day at school. She asks Atticus, her father, to homeschool her after she has disagreements with both Burris Ewells and Walter Cunningham. However, Atticus tells her that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). Atticus says this to Scout so she can reevaluate the situation and have a more realistic view, however, what he said can be applied to everyday life. To understand the feelings of another is to see the world through their eyes. Only through this can true connection be developed. Empathy creates bonds and friendships between individuals, and when Atticus says

Humans are the most advanced beings on Earth. Since we are the dominant creature, we are the best creature. We can do astounding things, like what I’m doing right now. It’s pretty cool to have the brain of a human. Right? Debatably. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem experience classism and implicit bias. From this, they learn to empathize.

Human interaction is important in today's society. It allows each of the species to communicate and share what they feel. But, wny for people struggle with the concept of empathy? To Kill A Mockingbird is a great example of the struggles of empathy. People struggle with empathy because they have different experiences. Characters who show this are Scout, Mayella, and Aunt Alexandra.

1) Atticus is an empathetic person who tries to make sure people are treated equally, and in the case of his children, that people should grow up and make a positive difference. Atticus shows his empathy by telling Scout to try to understand what Miss Caroline is going through. Harper Lee is trying to show that with empathy, everyone benefits, and there would be less hate and injustice. Atticus says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 39). Atticus is telling Scout to look at the world through Miss Caroline’s eyes, to see why Miss Caroline reacts the way that she does. Atticus believes that if Scout can see how scared Miss Caroline is, with teaching a new school in a new way, then Scout can understand what makes Miss Caroline act the way that she does. When Scout asks Atticus why he is angering the town by defending Tom Robinson, he says that he must, or else he would no longer be reputable. Atticus says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (Lee 101) Atticus leads by example, and that if he did not hold himself to the same standard that he wants Scout and Jem to be at, then he is no better than the rest of the town. He knows that he is going to lose, but wants to show his children that it is important to do the right thing no matter the consequences or result, and

We see how this empathetic approach is further transmitted to Jem and Scout in the scene when the children to go Calpurnia’s church and experience her way of life first hand. Before this experience, Jem and Scout had a narrow view of the African American community and the degree of segregation that existed. When they went to Cal’s church, the children experienced a sort of culture shock, where they quickly realized how different their lives were from people like Cal, where for the first time they were the minority. They also realized that Cal “led a modest double life” (lee 142), where the way she acted around them, was different from the way she acted around those of her community. The fact that Cal could read and speak “correctly,” yet didn’t put herself above others that were illiterate, was interesting to Jem and Scout. It wasn’t until they experienced her life by “walking in her shoes” that they were fully able to grasp the multitude of the issues that were currently being debated within their own community and the case of Tom Robinson. It allowed for them to see the disparities between different cultures through a new lens, while also

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. That is what Martin Luther King said in his last speech before he was assassinated. The literary fiction novel To Kill A Mockingbird wrote by Harper Lee takes place in the fictional Alabama town of Maycomb. The story happened during the period of Great Depression, and people were sorted based on socioeconomic, gender and races. The narrator Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem Finch and father Atticus Finch. In the book, Atticus is a character that is respected by readers because he has a strong sense of sympathy. Atticus is a just and fair lawyer and served several years in the state legislature. As being an attorney with strong moral character and healthy humanitarian principles, Atticus works diligently in the court to defend an innocent person. “It is a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” The innocent person is the mockingbird and Atticus’s mission is to protect the mockingbird. As a stern and gentle father of two children, Atticus teaches Jem and Scout a lot of principles on the way of life and benefit them in the future. His sense of responsibility makes him a good father. Atticus consistently demonstrates empathy throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird.

During the novel, Jem shows empathy to little Walter cunningham when he stops Scout from beating him up for not taking a quarter from their teacher and getting her in trouble for sticking up for him, Jem instead invites him home to eat lunch with them.Jem knows no matter what Walter couldn't have taken that money from their teacher , Miss.Caroline, in order to protect his family pride. Secondly, after years of making fun of Boo radley and even creating a game about him, while sitting at the table after the trial, he tells Scout that he finally gets why Boo Radley never comes out of his house. At this point, Jem is finally realizing that the people of Maycomb are not the best people in the world and have actually treated Boo very badly over the years. As a final point Jem shows empathy to his father,Atticus, when after being angry about Atticus not participating in the church football game Jem sees him shoot Tim Johnson,the rabid dog roaming the streets of Maycomb, he says “I wouldn't care if he couldn't do a blessed thing”.(Lee 131) Meaning Jem would not care if Atticus could not do a thing he was just happy he was his dad.Jem is showing empathy because he finally understands Atticus in ways he never did before.Jem just like Scout learns a lot over the time that this novel covers. Jem learns about empathy and how to treat