Empathy Empathy is shown in To Kill A Mockingbird by Atticus standing up for Tom Robinson, Jem realizing that Arthur Radley is not crazy; he is just antisocial, and Scout feeling remorse for tormenting Arthur throughout her childhood. Atticus shows empathy throughout the whole book, from promising Scout that they will read every night, to taking on Tom Robinson’s trial, it’s hard to find a more genuine character. While Atticus knew that the trial may not end well, he still believed he should stand up for what is right, regardless of anyone’s skin color. Atticus was willing to fight a large group of burly men to protect Tom Robinson, it could be that he thought about what he would want others to do if he were in that situation. Atticus is also a single father, so things can get rough for him considering he has two crazy children. No matter what happens in the story, Atticus is there to protect them, to teach them the right way of doing things. This directly correlates to how Atticus grew up as a child, he lived in a stable home, and was raised to be intelligent and kind, no matter what the circumstances. Atticus wants the same for his …show more content…
On page 304, Jem says, "… If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside.”. Jem realizes that Boo just wants to be inside, it’s not because he’s crazy, or any of the other silly rumors, he just wants to stay in his house. Jem even shows empathy towards insects, when Scout is about to smash a “roly-poly”, on page 320 he says not to hurt it because “...they don’t bother