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A Little Girl In A Big Racist World

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A Little Girl in a Big Racist World
The Webster dictionary defines a bildungsroman as a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. Scout is the main character and narrator of To Kill a Mockingbird, along with side characters such as Atticus, Jem, Dill, and Boo Radley. Scout learns many lessons in the novel that develop her into growing up, but three really stand out.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout learns to look into other people’s perspectives. For example, after lecturing Scout about the importance of school, Atticus mentions, ‘“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”’ (39). This demonstrates that Atticus understands the importance of empathy and attempts teach it to Scout. If Scout had known about …show more content…

For example, when Scout and Jem and Dill were convening together, Jem describes Boo as, “‘... six-and-a-half feet tall.-... he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch….”’ (16). This shows that Jem, Scout, and Dill thought of Boo Radley as a sort of malevolent and morbid creature. They thought that what they were thinking of was a creature of the night when in actuality, was just human. In addition, after the Tom Robinson trial, Jem and Scout are seen changing their views on Boo when Jem says, “‘Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside.”’ (304). This proves that after many of the novel’s events, they eventually changed their view on Boo Radley. Scout at this point sees folks as folks, that essentially all people are equal. After understanding that people should be equal, Scout learns that things aren’t always as they

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Personal beliefs are shaped by perspective. In order to change someone’s opinion, their point of view has to be altered. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee shows the change in Scout Finch’s beliefs as she matures and her perspective changes. We can see this when Scout evaluates Walter Cunningham’s different way of life at her supper table, when she starts to witness the social inequalities in Maycomb, Alabama during Tom Robinson's trial, and when she learned the truth about her childhood monster, Boo Radley. While Walter Cunningham sat at the Finch’s table for Dinner, Scout, who had previously beat him up that day, was furious because he was the reason her teacher Miss Caroline punished her for the first time.

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Scout is not the only character who uses empathy to help and understand others in the book. Helen Robinson, Tom’s wife, was jobless after the trial and, with children to feed, she desperately needed a job. So, in an effort to not let the Robinson family feel forgotten, Mr. Link Deas, Tom’s former employer, took mercy on Helen and gave her a job, even though he didn’t really need her. He just felt bad that things had turned out the way they did, thus using empathy to interpret and assist with the Robinson family’s situation

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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.

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When they were younger, Scout and Jem believed Boo Radley was a scary man who had bloodstained hands, rotten yellow hands, and had drool running from his mouth. When in reality, he was actually the contrary. “When they finally saw him he hadn’t done any of those things… Atticus, he was real nice” Lee, page 281. When Scout finally saw Boo Radley she realized he was not how she had pictured years ago and that he was actually a very charitable human.

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The concept of empathy is important to Scout’s and Jem’s and the County of Maycomb coming-of-age because they must learn that they cannot judge a person or fully understand one until they have showed some sort of empathy towards that person.

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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. Many people empathize through real life experiences. Scout is one of those people.

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One lesson Atticus teaches Scout is, “‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view.’” (Lee 39) This quote explains how one must step into another’s shoes before judging them. Atticus helps Scout understand the reason for empathy. Connecting to the theme, once Scout begins to understand her father’s lesson, she becomes more empathetic and tries to become similar to her father.

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Through the experiences of Scout Finch, the novel illustrates the difficulties of understanding and empathizing with those who are different from oneself, particularly in the context of racism and misogyny. As Scout struggles to make sense of the world around her, she is forced to confront her biases and prejudices and question the beliefs and values she has been taught. Lee writes, "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 33). This quote highlights the idea that to grasp the impact of racism and misogyny fully, it is necessary to understand the lived experiences of those who are marginalized and oppressed.

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Alfred Adler, a physician and physiologist once said “Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.” Understanding empathy is understanding that sometimes you should focus on others feelings instead of your own, and being able to feel what someone else is feeling. In the Novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many examples where Jem and Scout feel empathetic towards others. When Jem and Scout torment Boo Radley, when scout bullies Walter Cunningham, and when Mr, Raymond explains the effects of racism.

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Soon, Jem and Scout mention Boo Radley to their new friend Dill. Being a newcomer to Maycomb, Dill becomes curious and wants to know what Boo is like. In an attempt to give Dill a sense of who he is, “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six and a half feet tall... he dined on raw squirrels... his eyes popped.”

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Throughout the novel, the children befriend Boo Radley, since he is a shut in and many children of the neighborhood are quite curious as to what he does inside all of the time. Boo and Scout came specifically close, him giving her a blanket when Maudie Atkinson’s house burned down and at the climax point when he makes his initial known physical appearance as he saves Scout and Jem when Bob Ewell attacks them. After the Tom Robinson trial, Jem and Scout are finally starting to see from his perspective as Jem says “Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside.

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She didn 't fully understand what was going on therefore can 't comprehend the miscarriages of justice. As she can 't fully compose adult commentary, the novel was shown in innocence. One advantage of reading this novel from Scout 's point of view is when she experiences something for the first time, so does the reader. Such as when she goes to Cal 's church and experiences the bitterness some black members have towards white members in

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Boo Radley taught them, in the sense, that you can’t Judge a book by its cover. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout pictured Boo to be this “...malevolent Phantom (Lee 10).” that went out at night and looked through people’s windows. But after leaving them gifts in the tree and putting a blanket on Scout while she was standing out in the cold, Jem’s and Scout’s Perception of him began to evolve from a monster to a person.

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