Theme Of Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee evokes compassion in the audience to help them better understand the world and take action. In my opinion, authors can best evoke compassion or empathy in their audience by developing strong characters that experience conflicts. This can be seen in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and “Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.”. It is first shown in the book when Atticus is given Tom Robinson’s trial, and then again when Ms. Dubose overcomes her addiction to morphine. It is also proved in “Statement on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.” when Robert F. Kennedy states that Martin Luther King, Jr. has been murdered.

Philosopher Albert Schweitzer explains, “The purpose of human life is to serve, and show compassion and the will to help others”(BrainyQoute.com) In order to follow the purpose of life you have to teach the purpose of life. Compassion is meant to be shared and spread throughout the whole world. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus takes this moral upon himself, and teaches Jem and Scout about compassion in Maycomb. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee deeply develops her theme that compassion is understanding someone else’s perspective and following your own belief even if it contradicts the way of society.

“Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can just sit here and eat in the kitchen!” This is just one of the many examples Calpurnia sets for the children. Calpurnia is the Finch’s cook but she takes her role in the children’s life more seriously. She acts as parent; constantly teaching the kids lessons about life and race. She serves as a bridge for Jem and Scout between the white and black communities. Calpurnia could be the mother Jem and Scout never had because she is wise, caring, and patient with the kids.

As the story begins and we start to analyze the characters, Scout comes off as an being unable to grasp the realities of life due to her childlike innocence. We see this through her thoughts and actions. Walter Cunningham has a misfit with Scout in the beginning of the novel that can be an example of both her innocence and intolerance. It starts when Scout's teacher, Miss Caroline, tells Walter to take her money for lunch and suggests paying her back later. Walter refuses and Miss Caroline gets irritated. In attempt to explain why Walter doesn't take the money, Scout tells Miss Caroline the stigma of the Cunninghams. Scout says that Walter can't pay her back because he doesn't have the money; No Cunningham would ever take anything they couldn't pay back. When Scout gets in trouble for talking back, she blames it on Walter and reacted as follows, "Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt..." (Lee 30). This quote

Courage, as defined by Collins Dictionary, is “the quality shown by someone who decides to do something difficult or dangerous, even though they may be afraid”. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee has created many characters who exhibit such courage, even in the face of adversity, and develops this into a major theme. Atticus Finch, Arthur Radley, and other members of the Finch household and Maycomb community, display amazing courage in the things they say, but more importantly in the way they act. These characters all contribute to the novel’s theme of showing courage through adversity.

Being at the top of the social hierarchy has been a must for every American of past generations, but can lead to fatal damages for some trying to obtain that goal and a cause to ruin people’s lives. In a remarkably triumphant story on compassion, Harper Lee explored the horrors of racial prejudice in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Set in the 1930’s, the poor town of Maycomb, Alabama has been hit by the depression hard, which created a vast, complex social pyramid, with distinct families and lifestyles. At the Finch household, composed of a little nine year old girl, Scout, a twelve year old boy Jem, and their father Atticus, proceed through a whirlwind of events throughout the next few years. Atticus, a lawyer who is a hardworking, honest man at the top of the social hierarchy of Maycomb, has to defend a colored man by the name of Tom Robinson. This happened to be very unusual for the time period, as the family has to transcend through the struggles in a racial prejudice town and learn the raw nature of the worst in humans, thus trying to overcome these events through compassion. The author utilizes metaphor, characterization, and mood to describe the situation of Maycomb, it soon then becomes very clear that the dangers of ruining innocence can lead to a vast road of horrors and evils.

What is justice? Is it a fitting punishment for a crime? Or a court or officer of the law? Is it the law itself? It has many definitions and interpretations, depending on various people. Some interpret it very simply, saying that it is fairness in every situation. Others give the word more complication, saying that it is doing what is morally right and fair. Oxford Dictionary defines it as many things, including, “Just behaviour or treatment...The quality of being fair and reasonable.” Black’s Law Dictionary defines justice as, “The constant and perpetual disposition to render every man his due.” All are various meanings and interpretations of one, single, word, that has been explored in many books and novels, including one by Harper Lee. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the characters of Atticus and Mr. Raymond to show the meaning of true justice and how it transcends prejudicial divisions.

A remarkable American soldier and author named William T. Sherman once stated, “Courage, a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure It.” Going against what society says and sticking to your beliefs is an act of courage. In the realistic fiction novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, an average southern family, the Finches, fights against the racism of a small town. Harper Lee’s message is expressed by symbolism through the two characters Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, the bildungsroman of Scout, and the hero archetype of Atticus .Harper Lee portrays that courage should be shown through loyalty not popularity.

As the predominant idol to Jem and Scout over the course of the novel, Atticus demonstrates that the ambitions people achieve deserve commemoration, even if their activities and stances are contentious. After vandalizing the entirety of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bush garden, Jem attempts to justify his stunt to Atticus. Citing Mrs. Dubose’s appalling insults directed towards his father, Jem firmly believes that he is vindicated from any form of punishment. Consequently, Atticus makes it mandatory for Jem to read for Mrs. Dubose for over a month. After Jem finished his exercise, Atticus informs his children of Mrs. Dubose’s death roughly one month later. Revealing that Mrs. Dubose had an addiction to morphine, Atticus highlights that she retained

She gives the children helpful lessons in life that will benefit them, alongside Atticus’ lessons too. “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you so high and mighty,” (Lee 33). This was a quote by Calpurnia after Scout started to make fun of Walter Cunningham, who was a boy that had issues with money, when he poured syrup over his food. This quote shows that Calpurnia is equal and fair when she treats people and wants the children to grasp these values in their lives when they interact with

Calpurnia has taught the children how to contend with issues of race and class that exist in the segregated society. In Chapter 3, Walter Cunningham Jr. has dinner with the Finch family, and Scout is disgusted when he pours syrup all over his meal. Scout embarrasses Walter at the dinner table by rudely asking him “what the sam hill is he doing”. Calpurnia then requests Scout's presence in the kitchen and proceeds to reprimand Scout for her rude behavior. “Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it doesn’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can just sit here and eat in the kitchen!”. This quote supports that Calpurnia commanded Scout that she has no right to contradict Walter for his eating habits and teaches Scout a lesson of social equality and conscience. Calpurnia tells Scout that it doesn't matter if her family is considered "better" than the Cunninghams; Scout needs to treat Walter courteously and equally. Calpurnia also warns Scout not to act "high and mighty" around her guests by disgracing them, or she might punish her since she would have to eat in the kitchen. Calpurnia essentially teaches Scout how to handle and treat people that the prejudiced society considers “not their kind of folks”. She encourages Scout to view Walter impartially and treat him the same way she would want to be treated. It is significant how this lesson comes from Calpurnia, because, as a black woman

“A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” said Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic church. Mercy is something that is represented in parts of stories like The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Merchant of Venice. It is also represented throughout history in times like the Holocaust. Mercy can be stronger and more powerful than a weapon if used with purpose and used at the right moment.

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

According to Merriam Webster, the definition of sympathy is an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other. Sympathy is shown all throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by, Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a small, lonely town called Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. To Kill a Mockingbird is about two kids named Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem’s father, who they call Atticus, took a case to defend a black man. The black man named Tom Robinson was accused of raping a girl named Mayella. Throughout the novel, Tom is treated unfairly because he is black. Tom does not get a fair trial and is later accused of raping Mayella, even though all the evidence pointed to her father, Bob Ewell. During this novel, Scout and Jem learn that the world is not as innocent as they thought. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird sympathy is shown through putting yourself in someone else’s situation. The characters that sympathy is shown to are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mayella Ewell.