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How Does Joose Show Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Last game of the year, the star point guard and his team are down by one point. There's 5 seconds left and he makes a move to the left, then right. He steps back and the shot goes up, bounces off the back of the rim and falls to the ground. He walks back to the bench with his head down. You're watching from the top row and can't help but feel bad for him. That's empathy, and it happens all the time, especially in the book To Kill A Mockingbird. There are three people that show the most empathy: Scout, Tom and Jem. One of the main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird is Scout and she shows empathy multiple times. When Jem is told he has to read to Mrs Dubose, Scout goes with him. Seeing Mrs Dubose lying in bed, looking sick, Scout notes that she feels sorry for her. "In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs Dubose. I wondered if …show more content…

When Jem is in the courtroom and hears that Tom is guilty Jem is shocked and very upset. "It was Jems turn to cry, his face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd, When the children meet their father at the corner of the square, Jem mutters, It ain't right, and his father agrees, No son it's not right"(Lee 242)Jem was very upset because he felt that Tom was going to be punished and felt very bad for him. This is the main reason why I consider Jem empathetic. Another time empathy is shown by Jem is when he had recently talked to Atticus about their society and how some people don't respect people like Tom and he tried summing it up for Scout. "Scout, I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time . . . it's because he wants to stay inside."(Lee 256) This is where he comes to realize that that Boo doesn't want to be in our society because he doesn't believe in a lot of the things they do. Jem is literally doing the definition of empathy, putting himself in someone else's

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