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Empathy In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and empathy to others. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This is a story about a little girl named Scout and her childhood adventures that taught her valuable life lessons. When those lessons are put to the test her family must come together as strong as ever make it through. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird empathy plays a big role in the character’s lives. People’s ability to understand empathy determines their quality of life.
When empathy is used correctly and in the right way, it can make a huge positive impact on someone’s life. Empathy is something that people gain as they lose their childhood innocence, but that doesn’t mean that they will be able to use it to help people. As the main character, Scout, gets older she starts to lose her innocence and gain empathy, but she doesn’t quite get the concept. So her father helps her out by telling her, “‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-’” (Lee 39). In this quote Atticus is explaining to Scout how empathy works and how it is an important life skill to have. This helps Scout grow out of her innocence. Connecting to the theme, Atticus is trying to improve Scout’s quality of life by helping her understand empathy. Atticus also tries to help her empathize by saying, “‘It’s not ok to hate anybody.’” (Lee 330). Although this quote is stated later in the book, it shows that Scout
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