Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

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. My topics were how is empathy demonstrated or learned by Atticus, How is Empathy demonstrated by Scout and How is empathy demonstrated or learned by Jem. How is empathy shown throughout the characters among the storyline?

Former President Barack Obama had stated, “It’s the lack of empathy that makes it very easy for us to plunge into wars.” Obama infers that when people lose empathy, they lose the ability to understand others, which is a key emotion that helps people interact. His message connects to Marxism, a literary theory involving an imbalance of power. In the story “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the characters’ experiences prove the reader of the significance a lack of empathy causes to the balance of power. An application of Marxism reveals that an imbalance of authoritative power is caused by a lack of empathy.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. To me the word empathy in “To Kill A Mockingbird” means “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.” Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” suggests that empathy is a universal feeling, but everyone experiences it in different occasions and in different ways.

It is very important that writers are able to send a message to their reader with their book. Authors best do this by bringing about empathy. In order to send this message, authors often develop strong characters that go through various problems and struggles. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, shows this very well with its characters Scout Finch and Tom Robinson. This book helps the readers learn from the character’s reactions to their problems. Also, the idea that authors build well developed characters to bring about a deeper understanding is shown through the poem Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar. In this poem, the speaker explains of being trapped in the things that society says about him. Through these texts, it is evident that authors can best create empathy in their readers by developing great characters because when characters go through daily events that are challenging and troublesome, the readers are able to relate and understand what they are going through or we are able to learn from their experiences and influence us to adjust our lifestyles.

Morals and values often control one’s choices, and sometimes these decisions affect someone’s entire life. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a prime example of the importance of morals. During the 1930s in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, a non-racist, white lawyer, Atticus Finch, passes on his beliefs to his children, and they use his teachings to overcome challenges in their life. Atticus’s children’s, Jem and Scout, first encounter with an obstacle is when Atticus is tasked with defending an African American in court against a racist man named Bob Ewell that falsely accuses him of raping his daughter. As a result, members of their community, specifically an elderly woman named Mrs. Dubose, become angry at Atticus, and Bob Ewell even tries to murder Atticus’s children. Fortunately, Boo Radley, the town’s social outcast, jumps to the children’s rescue and kills Bob Ewell. Eventually, Scout was able to learn from her tragic experiences with the help of Atticus’s teachings. Using life lessons, Atticus aims to inculcate morals and principles throughout Scout and Jem’s lives.

Former president Barack Obama once stated, “It’s the lack of empathy that makes it very easy for us to plunge into wars.” Obama infers that when people lose empathy for others, they lose the ability to understand others, which is a key emotion that helps people to interact with others. Furthermore, his quote connects to Marxism, a literary theory involving an imbalance of power. In the story “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the characters’ experiences prove to the reader the significance that a lack of empathy can cause to the balance of power. An application of Marxism reveals that an imbalance of authoritative power is caused by a lack of empathy.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, children are forced to discover the importance of compassion and tolerance that help shape their maturity as a young adult. Compassion and sympathy are characteristics that Scout gradually learns in order to become more mature.

Atticus lives by a code: let your conscience be your guide. That’s why he takes on the case at the heart of the story, the defense of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Scout tells Atticus that most people in the town think it’s wrong to defend the accused man. But Atticus explains that “they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions. But before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” If he didn’t take the case, Atticus tells Scout, “I could never ask you to mind me again.”

To Kill a Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and empathy to others. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This is a story about a little girl named Scout and her childhood adventures that taught her valuable life lessons. When those lessons are put to the test her family must come together as strong as ever make it through. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird empathy plays a big role in the character’s lives. People’s ability to understand empathy determines their quality of life.

Perhaps your reputation is destroyed or maybe a lifetime of utter loneliness has taken its toll on you, is it any excuse for murder? In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell’s isolation leads her to fall for and advance on Tom Robinson, which results in her father, Bob Ewell seeing this as an opportunity to accuse Tom of raping his daughter and forcing her to lie in court. This false accusation can lead to a death penalty and Tom who is at a clear disadvantage due to his race doesn’t stand a chance. In the article written by Studs Terkel, American Dreams: Lost and Found, it reiterates the idea that our life experiences take part of who we are and partly shape us, but it is mainly up to ourselves to choose who we are. Three prominent themes in To Kill a Mockingbird are lost honor, loneliness as destruction, and will to survive.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many characters experience empathy in different ways.. The growth of the children in the book can be compared to a kindergartner and a college student. They start off as little pupils that barely knowing the definition of empathy. By the end of the book, they could write a college essay describing empathy in their town. The book has four main characters. Scout is the main character and the book is from her point of view. Jem is her older brother and Dill their friend who comes to visit every summer. Atticus is there dad and is filled with wisdom. Another character is Boo Radley who is ostracized from

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s perspective of Boo Radley changes as others influence her. Initially, Scout thinks as Boo as a malevolent phantom, and is scared of him because of the stories she hears. Midway through the novel, Boo starts to reveal himself to Scout, and she starts on her journey to realizing who he really is. Finally, after Boo saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell, Scout walks Boo back home. Now on the porch of the Radley place, Scout looks at her street from Boo’s perspective, and she realizes that Boo is just like anyone else, but he just rather live a reclusive life. Ultimately, Scout learns that she can not judge anyone until she is able to see life from their perspective.

Empathy is a main theme in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee weaves the theme of empathy through many characters. This story takes place in a town called Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s. White town folks treat black people bad in Maycomb, but characters show empathy to both colored and white people. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she shows the good and bad sides of empathy in characters like Atticus, Jem, and Scout.

Atticus Finch is a father of two children, a fair lawyer, a committed community member and most importantly a good person. The setting of the story To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a small town in an era where racism is prevalent, a white person’s word will always be above a black person’s. This attitude is common among the community members of the town and time period but Atticus hasn’t caught this “disease”. Throughout the novel, Atticus stays true to himself with the same morals and characteristics, even in difficult situations. Besides not having any prejudices against the black community, Atticus is also humble, has integrity and empathetic.

At a first glance, Atticus Finch, and Bob Ewell, both characters from Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” novel, don’t have a thing in common, but they do. Like most people, Atticus and Bob have similarities and differences in the way they live their lives and the way they treat others around them. The novel takes place in the “tired old town” of Maycomb Alabama in the years of 1933-1935.