Examples Of Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

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. Atticus showed Christian values like respect, compassion, and empathy to other people in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. These are values that Jesus taught, and they are values that we should strive for as Christians.

One of the Christian traits that Atticus represents is respect. In the Bible, it says to “love

Atticus shows compassion to Tom many times throughout the book. Even though Atticus knows that representing Tom will cause problems for him in the community, he has compassion on Tom and decides to represent him as his lawyer. Atticus knows that this is the right thing to do. Atticus also shows compassion to Bob Ewell. When Bob spits in Atticus’ face and calls him names, Atticus does not fight back, and he even tells Jem and Scout to not think badly of Bob Ewell because of what he did. Atticus’ reaction to Bob’s treatment of him is an act of compassion. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as Christ Jesus forgave you.” This is exactly the type of man that Atticus is: compassionate and forgiving. It is often difficult to be compassionate to those who hate us, but Jesus wants us to show compassion to

He taught Jem and Scout to be empathetic even towards the Ewells. Atticus told Jem,“...See if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes for a minute, I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial if he had any to begin with…” (293). Even though Bob Ewell was lying about the case, Atticus still had empathy towards him and he wanted Jem to as well. Atticus also showed empathy towards black people. Atticus claims, “There is nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who’ll take advantage of a negros ignorance” (296). Atticus thought it was terrible that Tom Robinson wasn’t treated equal to the white people and was not very happy when Tom was found guilty. Atticus also tries to teach Scout how to be empathetic with her teacher Miss Cunningham. In this situation Atticus gives the true definition of empathy when he stells Scout, “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). He wanted Scout to understand why Miss Cunningham behaved the way she did, and in order to do that, it was important to see things from her point of view and be empathetic. Jesus also modeled empathy throughout his life. In John 11, Jesus shows empathy for Lazarus’ sister Mary. “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in