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Empathy Quotes In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses indirect characterization to show how Scout learns the lesson of empathy.
In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee the character Scout initially sees Boo Radly as a terrifying monster that causes trouble. But this was when Scout didn't understand the concept of empathy. This story takes place in a small old southern county called Maycomb. The main character whose nickname is Scout is explaining a rumor to a new friend Dill with her brother Jem about a monstrous being called Boo Radley. Scout and Jem explain to Dill about all the devious acts Boo does in the small town of Maycomb county. Scout says…¨Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom¨(Lee 10). This quotation shows us how Scout depicted Boo Radley. She didn't really see him as a …show more content…

Dehumanizing Boo Radly. Scout describes him as a ¨malevolent phantom¨ and never refers to him as a person. Which when you think about it isn't really shocking because that is how almost everyone in the town portrays him as. More evidence of Scout believing all of these awful rumors lies inside of this quote.¨Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—¨(Lee 11)... This quote really stuck out to me because Jem goes on and on about how horrifying Boo Radly looks yet he has never seen him before and Scout who has also NEVER seen Boo Radley before says he gave a ¨reasonable description¨. It is quite scary how brainwashed the children are, including Scout.Another detail that reveals how much they feared Boo is ¨Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you. A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions

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991 Words | 4 Pages

Boo Radley. Boo is an older man, “about six and a half feet tall,” (13) that lives down the street from Jem and Scout. He is constantly locked up inside his house because of an incident when he, “ drove the scissors into his parent’s leg,” (11) causing him to be locked up in the basement of the courthouse. Lee portrays Boo to be a scary psycho character but everyone has their own opinions and stories about him. When Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire and sent smoke everywhere, “Smoke was rolling off our house,” (70) it was Boo Radley who gave Jem and Scout a blanket, “Yes ma’am, blanket.

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216 Words | 1 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout’s initial perspective of Boo Radley is malicious. In the book, Scout starts mentioning rumors about what supposedly Boo would do; an example of what Boo would do was peep inside people's windows. Any type of little crime in their town, named Maycomb, would be Boo's doing. Scout also mentioned how people's animals would be found dead because of Boo and how Boo's pecan tree was poisoned.

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414 Words | 2 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay In the novel, To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl named Scout and her brother Jem, display acts of empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and relate to the feelings of others. Scout lives in the county of Maycomb with her family, Atticus, Jem, Aunt Alexandra, and Calpurnia.

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950 Words | 4 Pages

The protagonists Jem and Scout from the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, initially misjudge the characters Boo Radley, Ms. Dubose, and Dolphus Raymond. As the reader follows Scout and Jem’s journey, the relationships with each character is developed. They learn new information about each character from school, the court case, and from being around the neighborhood. Along the way, Scout learns what Atticus meant when told Scout that you have to walk around in other people’s shoes before you understand them. They realize that first impressions are not always right, and they have to begin to understand a person before you judge a person.

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724 Words | 3 Pages

The three kids were chatting and Dill wondered what Boo looks like so Jem describes Boo as “about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained… There was an long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most or the time.” (Lee,16) This is the result of what happens when rumors are spread, people are misjudged and sometimes avoided like how Boo is shown throughout the book until the end. Boo Radley is wrongfully judged and admonished when it is just that not many people are circumspect.

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684 Words | 3 Pages

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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1230 Words | 5 Pages

To begin, Boo Radley faces prejudice from the people in the town of Maycomb who view him as frightening and menacing. Jem, Scout, and Dill are victims of this assumption when Jem says, ‘“I hope you’ve got it through your head that

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938 Words | 4 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses point of view to show that empathy is developed from maturity and experience. The main protagonist Scout sees her neighbor Boo Radley as a malicious apparition. In the town of Maycomb where Scout and her family live there is rumor of a dangerous beast-like man called Boo Radley who lives near Scout and never leaves his home. Scout, Jem, and Dill are equally terrified of the Radley house and there are several rumors going around that the pecans from the Radley's tree are poisonous and that Boo watches people through their windows at night.

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518 Words | 3 Pages

In addition to this, To Kill a Mockingbird teaches that it is important to try see from someone else’s point of view as one does not know what they may be feeling or going through. All this time Scout was so sure Boo Radley was this awful horrible man who wanted no contact with anyone. Yet what Scout did not realize was that Boo had his own reasons for him to come across this way, but she never once considered his outlook before. Finally near the end of the novel and as Scout has grown up, she begins to understand Boo this whole time when she thinks “Atticus was

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617 Words | 3 Pages

Scout and Jem develop empathy throughout "To Kill a Mockingbird" by experiencing different perspectives and events that broaden their understanding of the world and the people in it. In the mid-1950s, just before the peak of the American civil rights movement, Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird" to explore the consequences of hatred and prejudice in Maycomb County, Alabama, where racial and age boundaries prevented people from displaying empathy. Harper Lee explores the power of empathy in her Southern Gothic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" through the narrator and protagonist Scout and her elder brother Jem. Scout is a young child who is still learning and developing an understanding of emotions and social cues.

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940 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the book, Jem and Scout have multiple encounters with Boo Radley but never face to face. The first time they meet face to face is after Bob tries to attack them for being mad about the trial, but fails and dies. When they’re sitting in Jem’s room after his arm is broken, Scout, Jem, and Atticus find out that it was not Jem who killed Bob, but Boo. This changes Scout’s previous thoughts about how Boo was a crazy person, and makes her regret their previous actions in trying to break into his house. “Boo was our neighbor…

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1137 Words | 5 Pages

Empathy Unveiled: A Study of To Kill a Mockingbird Empathy is critical in developing interpersonal relationships and fostering understanding and compassion between individuals. It is often seen as a tool for overcoming prejudice and promoting social justice. However, despite its potential for positive change, applying empathy in the face of racism and misogyny is a complex and challenging issue. In a world where systemic inequalities and ingrained biases persist, truly understanding and empathizing with those different from us can seem daunting. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, through the lens of Scout Finch, the novel presents a nuanced portrayal of the challenges and obstacles that individuals face in trying to understand and empathize

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634 Words | 3 Pages

In the drenching hot heat of Maycomb county there is a stale feeling of resentment faced toward the African American people. Maycomb isn't the model city of Alabama, it has it problems and that problem is communication; the people are unwary of the African Americans and what they do because they fail to communicate their issues. To better understand the text Harper Lee includes several different themes to better recognize the importance of empathy. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird uses several different themes including the coming of age of several characters, individuals versus society, and prejudice to portray the importance of empathy.

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670 Words | 3 Pages

Empathy is one of the most fundamental things that keeps society is a whole functioning today, but it is often overlooked when considering people's own interests. However, this scarcely talked about topic is something that is brought up repeatedly throughout the award winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee that is told through the perspective of its main character, Scout Finch. This story shows the importance of why Scout needs to learn empathy , how she learns it, and how Scout uses empathy. Scout was always quick to judge the people around her; this is especially evident during the beginning of the novel when she talks about the town reject, Boo Radley and a poor boy, Walter Cunningham.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

Early in the novel, Jem and Scout perceive Boo Radley as a “Malevolent Phantom”. Jem tells Scout that, “‘Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained -- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he

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