“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. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are times where the characters of the story show compassion to animals. “Because they don’t bother you,” Jem answered in the darkness. (Lee 263). Jem said
…show more content…
“Come on home to dinner with us, Walter,” he said. “We'd be glad to have you.” (Lee 25). This is when Jem showed compassion to Walter Cunningham. He made Scout stop beating him up and invited him to have dinner with them. This was a very compassionate thing for Jem to do, especially because Walter had no food. “If you'll concede the necessity of going to school, we'll go on reading every night just as we always have. Is it a bargain?” (Lee 35). Scout tells Atticus about how her teacher told Scout that her father can't read with her or teach her to read anymore. This makes her really sad and Atticus makes a deal with Scout that if she stays in school they will continue on as usual. In this moment, Atticus showed compassion to his daughter by making a deal that would make her feel better. Another way Atticus showed compassion to friends and family was when Dill shows up to their house and Atticus tells Scout to feed him and acts as if it happened every day. Atticus showed compassion to Dill by helping him and letting him eat and sleep over without question. Compassion to friends and family can be shown by simply being there for the ones you care about without question as Atticus did with