To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

Understanding perspective is essential to understanding people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird presents this idea in multiple passages of her writing. It can be seen in the rough, unknown troubles that people face despite their wrongful actions. As well as the rumours that are untrue and give complete false impressions of people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird uses these topics to illustrate the dangers of judging others before getting to know them.

“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.

Atticus is the character who displays the most empathy towards others in the novel, and he is a primary example of the importance of this theme in the novel. Harper Lee writes about empathy mainly through Atticus and his ability to feel empathetic to others even in a situation

The quote ‘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’ (Page 33) This quote is said by Atticus Finch to his daughter, Jean Louise (aka Scout) when she comes home from a school fight with Walter Cunningham, a child from one of the poorest families in Macomb. Miss Caroline offered him money to get his lunch but he turned it down because he knew that he couldn’t repay her. Scout then says that he should be grateful and take the money. This then causes a fight between them and gets Scout in trouble. This quote is said by

Throughout most novels, characters encounter obstacles or events that once faced change their lives for the better or worse. In this book, that obstacle is racism. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird when ... ____________________. Due to... ____________________. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Dolphus Raymond, Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell each encounter racism in different ways; however, they all suffer as a result.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson for the raping of a white woman, Mayella Ewell, in racist Alabama in the 1990’s.

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

Perspectives can change beliefs in many ways. In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, Bob Ewell hears and sees Atticus defending Tom Robinson who is black, therefore, he believes Atticus ‘loves niggers’. Jem, Scout, and Dill have never seen Boo Radley come out at day and they hear rumors that Boo only comes out at night. People believe rumors and their perspectives until they get the truth and change their beliefs.

Tom Robinson had been accused to raping Bob Ewell’s daughter, Mayella. Although Atticus provided all the evidence that proved he was innocent, the jury declared him guilty and he was sent to a prison. There, he was shot dead by the guards after allegedly trying to escape. But this is all suspicious since Tom knew that he might still have a good chance of being released. It is also skeptical because the guards shot him seventeen times, an unnecessary amount, Atticus said “seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much” (Lee 268). Atticus realizesDill dares Jem to run up to the Radley’s door and touch it, which is a big deal to them. Scout’s comments and reactions aided in triggering her older brother to accept Dill’s dare. Scout teases and mocks him about being scared. She says that “in all his life, Jem had never declined a dare”, and he wasn’t about to now (Lee 14).When he hesitates, she laughs at him. He can’t admit that he’s scared, especially not to his little sister who would never let him live it down.

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view— until you climb in his skin and walk around in it,” says Atticus Finch. This iconic quote from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird highlights the compassion for others that shows up several times in the story. Empathy is a prevalent theme in To Kill a Mockingbird and is displayed by several characters. Atticus Finch is one of the most compassionate characters. He sets an example for his kids, who also learn to empathize. Several other characters besides the Finch family show compassion for each other. The title of the novel itself symbolizes empathy for the innocent and accentuates the role of compassion in this novel.

Atticus Finch’s wisdom and understanding of the human nature truly shows when he teaches us how to empathize. Atticus gives Scout and readers, a whole other way of seeing peoples perspective. Scout, who is upset that Miss Caroline put her “responsible” in explaining why Walter Cunningham cannot accept any money, complains to Atticus about that matter; saying she refuses to go to school. Atticus, who realizes that Scout is failing to understand things from Miss Caroline’s perspective says, “You never really understand someone....... until you crawl into his skin and walk around in it.”pg 33. Scout grapples with this idea of

In Maycomb County, Alabama during the Great Depression, Atticus Finch, a lawyer in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, explains to Scout Finch, his daughter, 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). At first, Scout does not understand the meaning of his words, but as she matures through the novel, her eyes are unveiled, and she understands what Atticus is trying to tell her. Over time, Jem, too, starts to see the meaning and depth of the statement. Throughout the course of the book, Jem and Scout both learn that one must know and respect people for who they are as individuals, not for what they appear to be.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

As Atticus Finch teaches his daughter in To Kill A Mockingbird, ‘(...) if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks, 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). Empathy is one of the most important parts of human life. It allows people to achieve a deeper understanding of the thoughts and emotions others may experience. This value is a recurring concept in To Kill A Mockingbird as the novel features the perspectives of many controversial characters, such as Mayella Ewell. While her actions cannot be justified, Mayella deserves the empathy of readers. She is especially in need of empathy

In To Kill A Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, Atticus says that your never really understand a person"until you climb into his skin and walk around in it". Basically what this means to me is that you can't takw people and put them into specifc categories and sterotype them. People in are complx structurexs not one thing they have many levels to them. In the book Atticus taught Scout a lot about not judging people by what you hear or what they look like and that he should find out who they are. I can relate to this book so far is when I meet new people I don't judge them unless I know who they are. Also during this time the great depression was going on and the buisness's had to cut down pay. Mrs. Cunningham his school teacher held a quarter and