Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

“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.

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.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel which deals with many themes; the most dominant of these is empathy, as it is crucial in the relationships between characters as well as in their learning experiences. The way Scout finally learns how to use empathy to see things from Boo Radley’s point of view was very moving to the reader, and the reader can

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.

Mayella Ewell is a tragic character in To Kill a Mockingbird. She is faced with many struggles involving her family and the people around her. Although Mayella is a poor white woman with an abusive father, no mother, and six siblings to take care of she does have power. Mayella Ewell is powerful as a character and continues to gain power in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird when it comes to race, class and gender. Despite Mayella being very poor and in a lower class of the society in Maycomb Alabama she uses her status as a white female to manipulate others into deciding in her favor when dealing with her court case against Tom Robinson regarding him being wrongfully accused of

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

Whatever respect or sympathy the reader might have had for Bob Ewell is dispelled by his behaviour in the courtroom and the evidence that Atticus produces that he was the cause of Mayella's beating. Not only is he a self-righteous bully but he is prepared to sacrifice Tom Robinson's life for his own selfish ends. The reader is more likely to feel sympathy for Mayella as the trial progresses. Her loneliness and need for simple human contact are made painfully evident as Scout comes to understand that she is 'the loneliest

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by author Harper Lee, displays numerous themes that can be connected to the world, a personal life, and more. One theme I noticed in the book was empathy. Empathy is the key to getting along with others. There are numerous examples of empathy that can be connected to the text. Scout, a main character in the story, displays empathy frequently by learning to, “walk about in someone’s skin”(Lee, 41). As Scout and her brother Jem grow up throughout the story they learn how much empathy can affect the way you view someone. An example of when Scout displays empathy in the text is in chapter two when she sees Walter Cunningham embarrassed in the classroom. Walter Cunningham is an extremely poor boy

TKaM Atticus Quote Essay Daniel Li We as humans are judgmental and categorize others by their personalities and actions. We are lead into not asking “why?” In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch 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” (39). The quote is about empathy, or the ability to understand others and view things from their viewpoint.

In the third chapter of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus proclaims 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” (P. 39). By including this statement Lee presents to us the idea of empathy and that, in the words of author Madeleine L’Engle in her book A Wrinkle in Time, ‘people are more than just the way they look’. Applying this concept to some of Lee’s characters in the book can teach us invaluable

In ‘To Kill A Mockingbird,’ Harper Lee uses many methods to build empathy for the mockingbirds. They are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. She does this through flashbacks, symbolism, and words of the wiser.

According to Judy Sheindlin “You don't teach morals and ethics and empathy and kindness in the schools. You teach that at home, and children learn by example.” Empathy is a major theme in the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”.

According to Harper Lee, compassion is an essential element to understanding and tolerating what may have first seemed unreasonably cruel. Compassion presents a new perspective that broadens the view and knowledge towards a subject. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus gives a concluding speech after the testimonies in the Tom Robinson case, evincing Mayella’s innocence and how she is a victim of society. He claims society has pushed her into a corner where she is forced to accuse an innocent black man. Atticus believes society to be an unjust world and that it should understand everyone has done an immoral thing, “this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men” (Lee 273). Since all men and women are equal in what they could experience or have done, no one should be judged solely on what they are presumed to be. Before judging someone or creating an opinion, someone should put themselves in another’s shoes to understand their perspective and have compassion for what they’ve done. Fully understanding one’s perspective can lead to a new discovery that changes opinions completely. By the end of the book, Scout meets Arthur Radley, known more as Boo Radley, and is able to speak to him as well as walk him home. She gets to learn more about Arthur’s reality and personality towards everything she sees

Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings with another, and is a concept that is very widely explored in many films and pieces of literature. Robert Mulligan’s 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird follows the Finch family in Alabama during the Great Depression while emphasising 1930’s social issues, which include the importance of empathy and social status. J.D. Salinger’s novel Catcher in the Rye, written in 1951, was written as the countercultural revolt began to develop and followed a teenager’s struggle through being alienated in an emotionless world. Both texts explore the idea that walking in another’s shoes is difficult but ultimately worthwhile through the use of symbolism, isolation and social status.