Empathy Quotes In To Kill A Mockingbird

It’s easy to be able to ignore somebody’s feelings, but it is difficult to step up and share the feelings of another. Empathy is the idea of doing just that and understanding one’s feelings. Harper Lee symbolizes empathy in many different ways throughout her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In Lee’s novel, many characters are affected by the theme of empathy, but the characters that experience it the most are Jem when he tells Scout not to harm the insect, Scout when she shows affection for Mrs. Dubose, and Tom when he shows affection for Mayella even when she accuses him of rape. The person that it was hardest for was Tom Robinson judging that he is a negro man. Tom shows empathy by showing affection for Mayella Ewell’s feelings even when she accuses him for committing a major crime on her. Tom’s accusation was just a cover up for Mr. Ewell beating his own daughter for coming onto the negro man. Mayella had something new every day for Tom to do for her and he helped her because “[he] felt sorry for her” (Lee 264). Since Tom is a negro, he was accused of a crime even though he did not do anything wrong except trying to help a woman in need. Link Deas backed up Tom Robinson by saying “I ain’t had a speck o’trouble outa him” (Lee 261). Deas knows

Dubose, and Tom when he shows affection for Mayella even when she accuses him of rape. Tom felt bad for a lonely white woman and he just wanted to show affection and help her even though he knew it would turn out well. Scout’s mind matured throughout the story and she began acknowledging themes likes empathy. Jem thought of things as if he was in someone else’s shoes and took things into perspective that way. Introducing the theme of empathy to the novel helped get the main point of the book across to the