To Kill A Mockingbird was definitely worth the read. Yes I did admit that. Harper Lee does an amazing job expressing themes throughout the book. I chose empathy, and to me empathy is when we consider eachothers attitudes and situations from another viewpoint and identify another perspective to an issue. In the book, Scout learns empathy, Atticus teaches empathy and Tom needs empathy.
The Monroe Doctrine. The Panama Canal. The Spanish-American War. All these and more are examples of events that happened with in the 1898-1919 era. Many historians today are confused on whether these times showed the U.S. as a country of idealism or realism.
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive,” said the Dalai Lama, a monk of the Gelug or “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism. This is a quote about compassion, saying that love and compassion are something humanity cannot survive without. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, compassion is shown in a few different ways including compassion for animals, compassion for friends and family, and compassion for strangers. Showing compassion to animals is seen by some people as a good judge of character.
Another well known lesson taught by Atticus is about empathy. Empathy is defined as: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This is shown in chapter three when Scout encountered some problems with her new, first grade teacher, Mrs. Caroline. The little girl was mature well beyond her years, therefore, when she was asked to read out loud, Scout read with near perfect fluency. However, the teacher was surprisingly displeased with her advanced level in literature and flow, and assuming it was Atticus who was educating his daughter, Mrs. Caroline wanted the ‘lessons’ to come to a stop.
Scout is initially naïve and does not think about how her actions affect others, showing that children can be offensive when their naïveté equates to a lack of empathy. For example, when Jem invites Walter Cunningham over for dinner, Scout is not accustomed to the way he eats. She says to Calpurnia, “But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in syrup, he’s poured it all over” (Lee 32). Scout’s youth prevents her from understanding the differences in other people’s life circumstances, including Walter’s. Her family is wealthier than the Cunninghams and she knows proper manners; Walter, on the other hand, likely does not.
Allie Beller Megan Ross English 2 2 October 2017 The “Scout” Essay In To Kill a Mockingbird, children are forced to discover the importance of compassion and tolerance that help shape their maturity as a young adult. Compassion and sympathy are characteristics that Scout gradually learns in order to become more mature.
In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, examples of empathy are abundant and constitute much of the novel. Out of the many examples, three of them will be discussed. Empathetic practice is one of the first ideas Atticus explains to Scout in the novel. In the third chapter of the novel, Atticus states “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” This point is reiterated on several occasions by Atticus.
Compassion is a theme that is demonstrated in many different ways throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Compassion is represented by people who are looked down upon within a community in both the book and today. Jem shows compassion in the novel when he recognizes the unfairness of Tom Robinson’s verdict just because the color of his skin. Atticus expresses compassion for Mrs. Dubose who has a hard time controlling her actions because of her disability. Also, Scout demonstrates compassion for Boo Radley who is an outcast of society because of rumors spread about him.
In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, one crucial theme is compassion. Being the responsible parent that he is, Atticus Finch teaches both Scout and Jem to show sympathy. He acts as a good example by telling them that they will “never really understand a person until [they] consider things from [their] point of view… Until [they] climb inside of [their] skin and walk around in it” (Lee pg. 30). Atticus models this by defending Tom Robinson; he is aware they have a slim chance of winning, but he attempts to help him anyway. Because Tom is innocent, Atticus feels sympathy for him.
In the novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, the main character, who is nicknamed Scout, learns the meaning of empathy as she struggles with handling the problems created by her first grade teacher. Over the years, there were many instances where I was required to seek a way to empathize towards others, despite the difficulty I faced while trying to comprehend their issues. However, there is one specific moment out of all these times which I could not relate with more. Two years ago, when I was in sixth grade, my best friend experienced a situation that would not even occur in my nightmares. Every morning, before class, we would meet in front of our first period class.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, compassion is most important throughout the story’s lessons and understanding. Compassion is used throughout the book by a few different characters that most likely didn’t see compassion in the same way. The different ways that compassion was used in the story was extremely important due to the amount of change it caused in the story and the reader’s view of the story. Everyone deserves compassion in their life, and one of the characters in the book that could use compassion is Mayella Ewell. It was easy to tell that Mayella was a pitiful character and she deserves compassion because of how she grew up, how lonely she is, and she is most likely desperate.
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.
Just like respect, compassion is earned and not given. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, A young woman named Mayella Ewell who is the daughter of an alcoholic widower lives in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb behind the town’s dump during the great depression. Tom Robinson, a black man living in the same town as Mayella, is being tried for rape after being accused by Mayella and her father Bob. Mayella’s accusation has had detrimental impacts on Tom’s family and overall life which is formed on the account of a white woman’s word versus a black man’s word.
A world without respect, compassion, and empathy would be a mess. If no one had respect for each other, there would be a lack of courtesy and politeness. If no one had compassion, everyone would only care about themselves and not others. If there was no empathy, our actions would only be based on what makes us feel good rather than caring about the feelings of others. It is good that we have people in this world like Atticus Finch.
Through To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us the righteousness of empathy. Harper Lee 's technique of writing and coinciding Christian beliefs weaved through emphasizes the importance of the story 's moral and themes. It is through Scout, the young dynamic and protagonist, that Lee opens the reader 's eyes to a realistic world of prejudice and inequality during the 1930s. Though introducing many characters throughout the novel, it is through Lee 's wise father character, Atticus Finch, that she further helps teach her readers life lessons, one being empathy. While narrating in first person, Lee further details her novel with the setting and use of style and diction.
