The Contrast of Empathy and Racism
Although Americans follow the same rules and government, there is a clear divide between the priorities of the citizens. As with Americans, in Maycomb, Alabama, there is a clear divide in people’s viewpoints. Some of them are empathetic of others and see everyone with an open mind while others generalize people and can immediately make an assumption about someone from the color of their skin. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she makes it clear that there are two kinds of people in Maycomb, the majority whom are racist and the select few who are empathic.
Empathy is shown throughout the novel in many situations by the Finch family. In the beginning of the book, Jem, Scout, Dill constantly
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Because all Jem, Scout, and Dill focused on was getting the attention of Boo Radley, Atticus finally told them his view on their actions, he sternly remarked, “What Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house he had the right to stay inside free from the attentions of inquisitive children.” (65) Atticus in this quote is explaining to his children that Boo Radley is not someone to constantly ridicule. It is evident that Atticus feels bad for Boo Radley as Boo hasn’t been able to live a normal life for over fifteen years. He hopes that his children will understand this and leave this poor man alone. Later in the story, after Boo saves the life of Scout and her brother, Scout starts to realize that he wasn’t the malevolent monster she thought he was nd was actually a great neighbor who helped entertain her for multiple summers. She pondered, “Boo was our neighbor. He gave us soap dolls, a broken water and chain, a pair of good- luck pennies, and our lives.” (373) Scout realized the night Bob Ewell almost killed her, that Boo Radley was not a person to fear. As the novel is set in Southern Alabama during the 1930s, racism was either intentionally or unintentionally