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Empathy Quotes In To Kill A Mockingbird

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As many people grow up and mature, they start to see their world as it really is. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Jeremy Atticus (Jem) Finch displays many acts of courage and empathy as he becomes a man. Jem is naive about many issues described in this novel as it begins. Jem is a typical American boy, he’s not one to back down from a dare and is a football fanatic. Like many older siblings, he gets annoyed with his younger sibling, but he still protects Scout and remains her closest friend. This comes into play multiple times in the novel, and it shows what sibling love is all about. Throughout the whole novel, Jem showed empathy for numerous characters. Atticus, his father, teaches the kids to walk in someone else's shoes before you judge them and Jem really takes this to heart. So when Scout is picking on and beating up Walter Cunningham towards the start of the novel, Jem pulls her off of him and tells her to knock it off. Jem does this because he …show more content…

Doing this lets Walter know that he is safe now and Jem understands him. Another time Jem showed empathy towards someone was later on in the novel, when the Tom Robinson case verdict comes out. Jem had believed that Tom Robinson was innocent, and he hoped that the jury would side with Atticus. As soon as the jury comes out, Jem realizes that Tom would have never won the case, because it was as simple as black vs. white. The Ewells are not respected and Bob is a very bad guy, but in the end, Tom is no better off than them. Jem is in disbelief of how they could come to the verdict even after Atticus presented substantial evidence.He is very upset when he asks “How could they do it, how could they?” (Lee, 213) This quote shows that Jem feels sorry for Tom and is critical of the jury's discrimination. Jem exhibiting this behavior shows that he is now becoming aware of issues that someone his age might not think twice

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