Empathy Quotes In To Kill A Mockingbird

Empathy, a most basic human quality, but how many can define it. Empathy according to the Oxford Canadian dictionary empathy is the power of identifying oneself mentally with (and so fully comprehending) a person or object of contemplation, but what does this mean? In simpler terms empathy is the ability to share the thoughts and feelings of another being or object. If that's the definition where can we find examples of this trait that has long been forgotten by society? In Harper Lee’s award winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird, a tale about friendship, loyalty, loss, and perhaps most importantly a story about empathy. Mr. Atticus Finch one of the main characters in the novel is one of the best examples of empathy, as it is thickly entwined

An old town, and a tired one at that, it’s a town where the respect of others is valued above the dollar, a place where your ancestors dictated who you were, a place embedded in the Southern way of living. The result of this mentality is racism, where Negroes wouldn't dare breathe the same air as a white person, but rising above the racism and societally enforced norms are Atticus Finch. Atticus takes no heed of colour so when Tom robinson’s (a coloured man had been accused of raping a white woman, Miss. Mayella Ewell) case came around he snapped at the opportunity to defend a man he believed innocent. Atticus has faith in this case because of his morals he believes that in the judicial system everyone should be equal, that's the one place on earth any man, no matter what colour of the rainbow they are, they should be treated fairly and equally, but more than all that he believes in the human ability to be good, to do the right thing even when it's the harder thing to do. Even through this he manages to teach his children, he teaches them to be empathetic and to walk around in someone's skin before making any conclusions. Atticus believes that if he can raise his children to realize that the town, the County, the State, and the entire South is sick, sick with racism. If he can teach them that then they may be able to grow and gradually move society from its ways and bring more

With their unbeknownst number of kids the Ewell brood, specifically Bob Ewell becomes jealous and outright angry that Atticus would oppose him in the court of law by representing Tom Robinson. Although against the odds Atticus feels empathetic towards the Ewells not necessarily Bob but instead for Mayella, he understands what she is being put through, Suffering through domestic abuse, and in court Atticus even goes so far as to state that he feels sorry for Mayella. To add to this he implies that the man truly guilty of beating Mayella is in the courtroom (Bob Ewell). This did nothing to calm Bob Ewell’s seething manner instead it only escalated it, and in an attempt to get back at atticus he tries to kill his children whom are saved by an unseen and unknown force which killed Mr. Ewell. The precursor towards this however was when Bob Ewell spit on Atticus but even through this Atticus was rational, he thought about it. Carefully, he thought of the reasonings behind why this happened and in one quote he explained to Jem Bob Ewell's reasoning for what he did: “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility... So, if spitting in my face and threatening me saved