Theme Of Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee as the novel progresses Scout’s innocence is gradually evaporating. Scout is losing her innocence of a child from being exposed to the “real world” and experiencing the prejudice ness of others. At the beginning of the novel Scout is a young girl who has never faced the “evil” of the world. Maycomb county Alabama during the Great depression is extremely racially prejudiced. Scout encounters the evil of society when Atticus takes on the case of Tom Robinson. One day at school ¨He (Cecil Jacobs) had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers”(99) Scout’s became very angry by this and her “fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly”(99) Scout being harassed by

“I want you to understand that courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand,” (Lee 112). This is a quote spoken from a courageous man who put himself in other people’s positions and did not believe he was superior to African Americans like many in that time period. Atticus Finch is a lawyer, and also the father of Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The finches live in a small town called Maycomb during 1933, also known as the Great Depression era. Throughout the book, the town faces many racial discrimination issues, especially when an African American man named Tom Robinson is falsely accused of rape of a white female. Atticus courageously decides to take Tom Robinson’s case, therefore, going against the prejudice portrayed in the town. Malala Yousafzai was a teenager who lived in a city in Pakistan that was under control of a Taliban. The Taliban highly restricted girls from going to school because of their gender. Malala believed that everyone had the right to get an education, so she fought for what she believed in and went against the Taliban. Both of these heroes stuck up and fought for what they believed in no matter the consequences. Atticus Finch and Malala Yousafzai both portrayed courage throughout their lifetimes by having extraordinary bravery and went on to become many people’s heroes to this day.

"Jem, I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case. Most of them, if not all, showed true courage by standing up for what they believe in and keeping their heads up high. Harper Lee uses many scenes and key characters to develop the theme of real courage for instance, Jem, Atticus, and Miss Maudie go through a journey to discover, understand and to show that real courage is mental courage in the face of physical and emotional torment.

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, cruelty comes up again and again as a central theme and driving force in the plot. The novel takes place during the Great Depression, a time period where segregation is the norm, and cruelty is commonplace. The main character, Scout, grows up seeing all of this, and questions it. She watched racism take place around her, and grew up throughout the course of the novel, and found that even though the events that transpired were unpleasant, they made her a better person.

Mary Sarton explains that,”One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being”. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the more prominent figures in the book is the father of Scout and Jem, Atticus Finch. He serves as the voice of reason for the audience, his children, and himself. He gives life lessons to both Scout and Jem that shape who they are as a person, especially towards the end of the novel with the encounter of Bob Ewell and Boo Radley. Throughout the novel, Atticus symbolizes the virtue of humility. These traits are especially prevalent in the events of the rabid dog, the encounter with Mr. Ewell after court, and the death of Mr. Ewell.

This essay aims to investigate the literary context of Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird (1960) from four different perspectives. The scope of this essay does not only include the context from historical, cultural and social points of views, but also the significance of Lee 's early life is considered. The essay explores deeply the novel 's events, characters and main themes, which can all be related to the literary context. This is why the research question of this essay is “A Study of Literary Context in Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird”.

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.

Without compassion the world would be a dark place, there would be no such thing as love and there would be no one to lend a helping hand. Even in society today, people approach situations with no compassion, humans discriminate against others because of differences in color or appearances. In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" the author, Harper Lee, writes about a town that shows no compassion towards people of color even when there are lives at risk. In the book, we learn that "[you 'll] never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."(Lee 30) All members of the Finch family show compassion towards others in the book "To Kill a Mockingbird", Scout shows compassion

Compassion is a theme that is demonstrated in many different ways throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Compassion is represented by people who are looked down upon within a community in both the book and today. Jem shows compassion in the novel when he recognizes the unfairness of Tom Robinson’s verdict just because the color of his skin. Atticus expresses compassion for Mrs. Dubose who has a hard time controlling her actions because of her disability. Also, Scout demonstrates compassion for Boo Radley who is an outcast of society because of rumors spread about him.

There is a Native American quote that says “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” This quote shows a great example of empathy. Put yourself in their place and see how it feels, you don’t have to agree with, but you should understand them before you make judgements. That is empathy in a nutshell. In In To Kill a Mockingbird Empathy is an essential in the narrator Scout’s growing up or coming of age. There are countless amounts of empathy, which enforces how important empathy is.

In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the character Atticus possesses the most compassion out of the other characters. Atticus is a man of profession, however, his compassionate heart can not be overlooked. Atticus tells Jem to "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (Lee 81) to display his compassion for those who are innocent. Compassion is the concern for the suffering or misfortune of others. A scene in the novel states that Atticus has no choice in representing Tom in the trial. At first, the novel shows that Atticus has no decision in defending Tom, however, one may later discover that Atticus wants to defend Tom. Atticus is the character that possesses the most

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book mainly about the coexistence of good and evil. The book stresses and emphasizes on the exploration of moral nature in humans. There are many themes in this novel including courage, innocence, racism, femininity, etc. However the most prevalent theme in the book is innocence. Not just innocence in itself but the danger and harm evil poses to the innocent. You can see in the book as Jem and Scout go from a childish perspective, one that only sees good in people because they’ve never faced evil. To a more adult perspective who have confronted evil and learn to integrate it into their world.

Charlotte from the book Charlotte's Web embraces similar qualities to Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. In Charlotte’s Web, a pig named Wilbur fearfully awaits the day his owner slaughters him. A clever spider named Charlotte notices Wilbur’s angst and feels tremendous empathy toward him. As a result, Charlotte weaves a web that illustrates positive words describing Wilbur. Charlotte intentionally brings attention to Wilbur so his owner will develop empathy for him as well. Her plan proves successful and the slaughtering fails to take place. Charlotte’s ability to empathize saves Wilbur. In addition, Charlotte demonstrates humility as she never desires credit for her hard work with the web. Similarly, Atticus never draws attention toward