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Moral Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Maycomb County, a place in which innocent children fall under the influence of their parents who are hypocrites that hide behind their facades, making it the only “normal” Maycomb folks have come to know. Two men who may seem the exact opposite of one another really have similarities. On one side, we see Atticus Finch, an extremely wise man by nature who has solid principles and a clear sense of morality. However, we also learn about Bob Ewell, who has an evil and unadmirable nature. Nonetheless, both men may not be so different after all. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, moral empathy is not adequately represented towards other Maycomb County folks, especially towards the black community; people are just people and no one is naturally different from anyone else, excluding the fact that there are some people who take advantage of their power.
Early in the novel, the author introduces the readers to a divided society in which both the young and old, are heavily inclined towards discrimination against “powerless” people, especially the black community that is settled in Maycomb. In pursuance of addressing this dilemma, Atticus says to his daughter Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee p. 48) This quote is what essentially makes up the whole story. However, the jury in the trial does not seem to share this idea because they convicted Tom Robinson, a

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