According to Arthur Schopenhauer “compassion is the basis of all morality.” This means that “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior” (Google dictionary, morality) are developed by the “sympathetic pity and concern for the suffering or misfortune of others.” (Google dictionary, compassion) In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird we generally see this through the character Atticus Finch. Atticus demonstrates this when he pardons Bob Ewell’s threats toward the Finch family, accepts the Tom Robinson case, though it is headed for failure and lastly Atticus examples compassion when he acts neighborly to Mrs. Dubose despite her insults towards him. As you will see, morally correct decisions come not from law or society, but from within.
Bob Ewell, a man who is offensive, ignorant and lazy poses threats on Atticus Finch, an intellectual, wise, empathetic man and his family. The threats are dangerous and serious, however, no matter what they are or how scared his children grow nothing seems to faze him. Atticus is trying to teach his children to put themselves in other people’s situations before coming to harsh conclusions:
“‘Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly
A potential flaw Atticus had as a parent was that he over trusted devious people and was perhaps a little careless and under cautious. The best example of this was when he allowed Jem and Scout to go to the Halloween party alone. Even though Atticus thought Bob Ewell was not a threat, he still should have attended the party with the children just to be safe or even send them with Aunt Alexandria. Even if Bob Ewell was not going to harm the children, there would still be a chance that Bob Ewell would show up and verbally harass the children, so it was rather careless on Atticus’ part to let the children go alone. After Bob Ewell attacked Jem and Scout, Atticus admitted to Heck Tate that he thought Bob Ewell’s threats were empty
Barbara Lazear Ascher writes a well formed essay on the concept of compassion. Compassion is something that we do for others out of the kindness of our hearts. She focuses more on the poor, just how we show them sympathy, why do we do such things. Is showing empathy from our hearts or just for them to go away. I enjoyed this essay due to the fact, that she gives humanistic reasons on why people are compassionate, she doesn’t sugar coat anything, and lastly she breaks down the compassion that she sees everyday.
Are people born with a complete quandary when it comes to compassion or is it something that has always been there? Barbara Lazear Ascher, born in 1946, writes, “On Compassion.” Having lived in New York City, Ascher is able to take first hand examples from the city to show the affection people have towards each other. Ascher is able to illustrate that compassion is something that has to be taught because of the adversity at people’s heels by including tone, persuasive appeals, and the mode of comparing and contrast in her essay, “On Compassion.”
Compassion is learned through experience and seeing those less fortunate; it brings out sympathy because one cannot ignore it when unfortunate people are everywhere.
Atticus' chooses to tolerate Bob Ewell's immaturity, because he thinks for his citizens, he believes to help people who do not have the say, even if they do, it is not considered in a matter of seriousness. Atticus finch is the character who steps out of his stereotypical class, where he gets all the freedom as a white man; when he goes out of his way to help the black people, who don't get enough say. His own race tries to backfire and understand why is his mentality different, why is he not acting the way they do. One of the characters in the novel always had something negative to say towards Atticus or even his children, "Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for!" (Lee 135) Miss. Dubose speaks with such hatred in her words towards Atticus, when speaking to the kids. Jem and Scouts father is still choosing to consider her well being first and her words from a different perspective. He tries to let his kids see from his point of view and that Miss.Dubose is a strong woman, who is going through so much, but this also builds up the kids tolerance level; teaching them how to cope and to hold your head high when negativity
Although deemed by most to be a good parent, Atticus’ lack of supervision affects his children Scout and Jem and even exposes them to danger. Atticus is not a perfect father. He has a full time job that restricts him from being around his kids for most of the day and also puts them in a dangerous position. When Atticus agreed to take on the ‘Tom Robinson case’ he knew full well that he was going to have a lot of tension with people, and even though he did the the right thing by defending an innocent man despite his colour, some may argue that he puts his beliefs before the welfare of his children. This puts the kids in danger because Atticus while losing the case still makes Bob Ewell embarrassed by being shown up like the way he was. This causes a hatred that provokes Bob to hurt Atticus in the deepest possible way, by attacking his children. It was Atticus’ call to decide that he would send Jem to the pageant instead of himself, and that was what ultimately gave Mr. Ewell his chance to get back at Atticus. This shows that Atticus is not the perfect father, if there is such a thing, but proves that even Atticus has flaws or faults to foresee
This family member feels ashamed because of Atticus’ choice. He is labeled in his family for doing his job, thus making him a mockingbird. Atticus was also attacked through his children. Bob Ewell attacked Atticus’ children to get back at Atticus for being a lawyer to protect a black man. “Heck, Atticus Finch. Someone’s been after my children” (Lee 263). This tells us that Bob is attacking Atticus’ children, from the anger he has for Atticus. Atticus did nothing to receive this pain, which proves he is an innocent man. As well is Atticus being a victim of unfair violence and judgment, Boo Radley is treated unfair in this same society.
Lee’s characterization of Atticus Finch as just and moral displays that considering events from another’s point of view can help people understand others’ prejudice, and negative actions. When Atticus’ daughter, Scout, is six years old, she attends school for the first time. Scout confides to her father about her first day of school during which she became upset. As any parent would, her father gave her some advice, “‘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
At the end of the novel much light is shed on the fact that one should not ‘judge a book by its cover’ and that no matter what race, or social standing a person has there is room for the opportunity to be good or bad. This can be seen through Atticus’ Finch stating that the family could not stand one day without their black housekeeper, despite the juxtaposing character of his sister’s best efforts to get rid of her. It can also be seen through the Ewell family. They are a white family that have money and a social standing in the town. Bob Ewell is an evil man who drinks away the family’s money. His character is foreshadowed by his son, Burris, and the abhorrent
Initially, Atticus Finch was compared to a mockingbird because it was a sin to mutilate him. Atticus Finch was a inclusive man, and Atticus always taught his children to treat people with regard. Atticus once said, "If you ever see a white man being rude to a colored man, it don't matter how rich he is. "It is wrong." Atticus also had some tough times; for example, he stood up for a colored man who was accused of rape and he took steps against prejudice behavior. Atticus also got verbally and physically abused for standing up, when he defended a colored man who was falsely accused of rape. Atticus worked hard on the case, He never gave up even though it harmed his reputation in the community. Bob Ewell felling Atticus made him look unwise and guilty in the situation. Bob Retaliated by threatening, and spitting in Atticus face. Atticus was a good sport and ended up making
Although Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell have a few similarities, the main differences are found in the ways that they act. First, Atticus and Bob’s personalities are very different. For instance, Atticus explains his decision to defend Tom Robinson by saying, “…if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (pg. 100). On the contrary, Bob describes the location of the Robinson’s house as, “…in that n****r-nest, passed the house every day. Jedge, I’ve asked this country for fifteen years to clean out that nest down yonder, they’re dangerous to live around ‘sides devaluatin’ my property…” (pg.234). It is clear that Atticus has respect for the dignity of all men, regardless of
Compassion impels us to work to alleviate the suffering of our fellow man, to remove ourselves from the center of our world and put another there, and to honor the sanctity of every single person treating everybody, without exception, with justice, equity and respect.
When Bob Ewell first takes the stand it is obvious to all that he is a wasted human being (Lee 230). Harper Lee crafts his image as a man who has no purpose in life, a drunken individual with flagrant disrespect for his own children. But this same image of Mr. Ewell asks the reader for empathy. Initially, one detests him. How could he risk a man’s life simply to hide the fact that he beat his daughter? When Atticus defends Mr. Robinson, he makes this moral dilemma clear to everyone inside the courthouse. But after the trial, Atticus understands that he has ruined this man’s reputation for life. Because he understands Bob Ewell’s unfortunate circumstances, he feels no hatred when the man spits upon him. Atticus’s principled stance even applies to men like Hitler. When Scout asks “But it’s okay to hate Hitler [sic]?” after school one day, Atticus responds: “It is not. It’s not okay to hate anybody” (Lee 330). This word of wisdom comes from Atticus understanding that Hitler has his own personal
For the coaching with compassion case study I chose to have a coaching session with a peer and friend within my organization. I have worked with the subject of the coaching session for nearly eight years and have been one of his mentors for seven and a half of those years. He does exemplify what I would consider to be a superior performer. He always acts with integrity, is very dependable, is knowledgeable, provides an exceptionally high level of customer service and accuracy, takes time to teach others, and is constantly looking to innovate. Provide book example of leadership here.
“Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion” (Gautama Buddha). Harper Lee demonstrates this quote in the book, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book, Scout and Jem, who are siblings, lives in a town called Maycomb with their father, Atticus. Later, they get in a situation where Atticus defends an African American, Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Maycomb people get very disappointed at Atticus because of defending a black person, but they find out that the court appointed Atticus. Still, Atticus didn’t want the children to know that he was appointed because he wanted them to know that he himself wants to defend Tom Robinson. At the court, Atticus tries his best to defend Tom, but unfortunately they lose. Tom Robinson gets shot and dies when he was trying to escape from the prison. In the court, Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, speaks very aggressively and rudely as well as Mayella. In the other hand, Atticus speaks very gently and politely as well as his kids, Jem and Scout. Through her characters, Mayella, Bob Ewell, Atticus, Jem, and Scout, Harper Lee shows that compassion is learned rather than innate.