Examples Of Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Imagine living in a world of false accusations and judgment. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout and Jem grow up in a small southern town and learn lessons from issues they continuously face. To Kill A Mockingbird is a story of a young girl maturing in a dramatic world filled with the challenges of racism and prejudice, a world that teaches her how good and evil can exist together within a community. Throughout the novel, Scout learns several life lessons about compassion through characters and events she engages with and encounters such as Atticus, the Trial, and Boo Radley. To begin, Scout learns what it means to be compassionate through the words and actions of her father, Atticus. In the

In the text it states, “‘Scared of arrest, scared you’d have to face up to what you did?’ ‘No suh, scared I’d hafta face up to what I didn’t do.’ ‘Are you being impudent to me, boy?’” This dialogue illustrates that Mr. Gilmer has no respect for Tom Robinson because of his color. Scout witnesses the prejudice that exists in the town and learns how not to act and treat people as she grows up. Furthermore the reader discovers, “‘So you did, so you did, ma’am. You’ll have to bear with me, Miss Mayella, I’m getting along and can’t remember as well as I used to’…‘Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me,’ she said” (Lee 206). Scout recognizes that Mayella was thrown off and thought Atticus was mocking her because she was not used to getting treated fairly. Atticus was just trying to be compassionate and respectful like always but Mayella reacted that way because she wasn’t ever treated right before. Through this observation, Scout learns that she should never treat anyone that way because of the negative impact it has on people. Clearly, Scout learns how to not treat others and instead be more compassionate through the things that unfolded at the

In the novel, “Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers” (Lee 37). In this scene, Boo is showing his thoughtfulness which wasn’t what Scout was expecting based on things she had heard about him. Through this unexpected act of kindness, she learns that she shouldn’t judge people based on what others say without getting to know someone first. Moreover, the story continues when it was “Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him” (Lee 321). In this text, it becomes clear to Scout that Boo Radley, the person that everyone feared and judged, cared for them and wanted to protect them. This changes her perspective about people and the world because she realizes that people aren’t always the way they seem to others or on the surface. In the end, Scout’s relationship with Boo Radley taught her many lessons about people and the importance of not judging someone before getting to know