How Does Lee Show Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

How is the racial problem of the southern states of USA in the 1930s portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the readers can see how Scout changes her view about Boo Radley. Because of their nosiness, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to drag Boo out his house and to the outside world. Their innocent actions combined with Boo’s actions changed the image of Boo, in their minds, from “a malevolent phantom” (10), a person who kills cats and eats squirrels to a neighbor they can trust, who saves them from Bob Ewell. Scout says at the end, “Boo was our neighbor” (373). The readers can see a great change in their relationship. At the beginning, the children cannot even go near Boo’s place without palpitation, but at the end, Scout is comfortable enough to walk Boo up to his front porch. Throughout the novel, Scout has changed her view of Boo after a chain of Boo’s actions toward her. As Scout grows older, she becomes wiser to understand her father’s lesson, “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). Her father says this at the beginning, but till the end, thanks to the maturity combined with Boo’s actions that help Scout to understand it. She has matured enough to realize that people should not judge other people by rumor, but give them some chances to prove themselves.

The name of the novel being explored is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1950's in Alabama Maycomb during the racist times towards the blacks. Throughout this topic the focus is on the main character/narrator Scout (Jan Louise Finch). This essay will explore Scout's character and the negative and or positive influence she has on other characters at the start, throughout and at the end of the text.

Throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch intellectually develops from youth into maturity after a specific pivotal moment. Scout is a young tomboy from Maycomb, Alabama living during the Great Depression. Scout, having always punched and reacted violently to those who she does not agree with, develops into a mature lady and learns to thinks before she acts after seeing her Aunt Alexandra’s reaction to the death of Tom Robinson.

In To Kill A Mockingbird courage is a very apparent in Harper Lee’s message in the book. A good example of this is, according to Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in To Kill A Mockingbird, "Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." This is exemplified when Atticus takes the trial of Tom Robinson, but we’ll get into that later. Also when Boo Radley fights Bob Ewell in the woods for Scout and Jem, and my last example of when Mrs. Dubose dies in pain to not become a morphine addict. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee proves that you should always fight for something you believe in, even if it is destined to fail.

Martin Luther King stated: “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles...there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.” This quote is relevant throughout To Kill a Mockingbird because courage is a quality that most of the main characters possess. Taking place in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of two children named Scout and Jem. Their eyes are opened to who their neighbors really are when their father is appointed to defend an African American accused of rape in a prejudice town. The children grow up as the trial hypnotizes the citizens, and the reader sees courage

The rare quality of courage is highly praised in society today. For some, courage entails daring feats of bravery; for others, it simply means doing the right thing, whatever the outcome. In her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee switches many of the traditional stereotypes. Children and old folks display outstanding valor, while grown, able-bodied men exude extreme cowardice. Those who have courage in the novel risk their safety and reputation. While many characters in the book show bravery, the actions of Atticus, Jem, and Scout Finch remain the most prominent.

In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee a girl named Jean Louise Finch learns the truths of her town when her father, Atticus Finch, is appointed to defend a Black man. Jean Louise, nicknamed Scout, and her brother Jem make many friends and uncover the importance of many things through her father defending a Black man named Tom Robinson. One of these friends being Charles Baker Harris, nicknamed Dill, who is immensely infatuated with the town’s so-called lunatic, Boo Radley. Her brother and herself learn most of the important things from Atticus and Calpurnia, their caretaker. Everything else that they learn about is most likely from and situations they’ve found themselves in throughout the novel. She learns about the cruel, real world when

“Being misunderstood doesn't mean you're the issue sometimes it's the people that misunderstand you with all the issues.” (unknown) Being misunderstood is preventing people from knowing who the person truly is and making them feel all alone and like they are the problem. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the people in Maycomb make inferences on who the misjudged are. In Maycomb, people are judged by their actions, appearances, and what everybody thinks the people have done, but in reality, these false accusations set up a barrier between the misunderstood and everyone else. The people in Maycomb misjudge others based on their appearances, but in reality, those misunderstood prove, through their actions, who they

Although Americans follow the same rules and government, there is a clear divide between the priorities of the citizens. As with Americans, in Maycomb, Alabama, there is a clear divide in people’s viewpoints. Some of them are empathetic of others and see everyone with an open mind while others generalize people and can immediately make an assumption about someone from the color of their skin. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she makes it clear that there are two kinds of people in Maycomb, the majority whom are racist and the select few who are empathic.

In all of the books/movies that we have watched I noticed that someone in the story had courage. For some things like going up to the Radley house takes a lot of courage or leaving the reservation to go to an all white school. “ I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not who does not feel afraid, but who conquers that fear” Said Nelson Mandela

Topic sentence…………… something about lack of empathy in today’s society important as book teaches why it is an important skill to have. Often nowadays people tend to ignore the feelings of others, so this novel is an amazing reminder on why empathy is so crucial in life. In the book Atticus enforces this message strongly onto his kids, which also comes across to Harper Lee’s readers. When Bob Ewell is frustrated after the trial and takes his anger out on Atticus, Atticus completely puts himself in Bob’s shoes and states to his son “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 kinds always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take.” (Lee 292-293) Even after all the horrible acts, such as spitting in his face (Lee 290) towards Atticus, Atticus is able to remain a positive outlook and understand how Bob must be feeling to justify his actions.

Morality is described as a set of principles differentiating between right and wrong or good and evil. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird the main protagonists, Scout and Jem, grow up in a fictional southern town called Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. In 1930 World War II began to take its root, America was in the midst of a Great Depression, and racism was still a big problem. Author, Harper Lee, uses the book to show the moralities of people in different situations and walks of life. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, shows morality through the teachings from Atticus to his children, Boo Radley’s choice to save Scout and Jem, and also shows the opposite in the false conviction of Tom Robinson.

Jean Louise Finch ‘Scout’ is a headstrong young girl who narrates the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, set in the fictitious County Maycomb over the span of three years. She is often found sporting dirty overalls or breeches and possesses a rather tomboyish personality, much to her aunt’s dismay. It says, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire... When I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants.”(Page 90)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being