Empathic Ways Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. In the Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird many of the characters experience empathy. For example, Atticus Finch, the father of the main character, shows feelings of empathy through his ways of payment with the Cunningham. Similarly, his daughter, and the main character, Scout Shows empathy with her being able to finally understand how Arthur (Boo) Radley feels and thinks. Finally, Tom Robinson, the man sent to court for the accusations of raping a white woman, would help Mayella Ewell, the woman he was accused of raping, whenever she needed it because he felt sorry for her. Atticus, Scout, and Tom are just a few of the many characters that show empathy in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. …show more content…
Atticus shows much empathy in the way that he allows the Cunninghams to pay in methods other than money. At one point, Scout asked Atticus “if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay [them]’ (Lee 27), when responding, Atticus told Scout that they would be paid, but “not in money” (27) and saying that it’s the “only way [Mr. Cunningham] can pay [Atticus Finch]” (27). They would be payed with things such as “a load of stovewood… a sack of hickory nuts… a crate of smilax and holly” (27) and “a crokersack full of turnip greens”(27). Mr. Finch is showing that he understand the problems that Mr. Cunningham has to deal with and is accommodating to his