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Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. To me the word empathy in “To Kill A Mockingbird” means “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.” Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” suggests that empathy is a universal feeling, but everyone experiences it in different occasions and in different ways. Many people empathize through real life experiences. Scout is one of those people. In the beginning of the novel, Scout did not care about other people 's feelings, but she developed that in chapter three. Scout was in school when her teacher Miss. Caroline was verbally abused by Burris Ewell. Burris said “Report and be damned to ye! Ain 't no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’! You ain 't makin’ me go nowhere!” At school Miss. Caroline becomes …show more content…

The boy is Burris Ewell. Miss. Caroline tells Burris to go home and wash his hair. That 's when Burris freaked out and started yelling hateful things towards his teacher. Another time when Scout felt empathy was when her and Jem went to Mrs. Dubose’s house to read to her. “In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs. Dubose. I wondered if Jems activities had put her there and for a moment I felt sorry for her.” The reason why Jem and Scout were at Mrs. Dubose’s house, was because Jem and Scout were walking by her house when Dubose started yelling at the kids saying that Atticus is not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for.” Jem lost his temper and takes Scouts baton he bought for her and snaps it in half. Jem destroys all of

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

Scout is definitely a character we see growth in. She goes from being a little girl who can’t control her anger to a young lady that wants a change in the world. In this quote, Scout shows that she tries to climb into Jem 's skin and understand what he is going through. In this part of the chapter was when the tree hole, that has the gifts got filled up and Jem felt bad about not giving anything in return. When scout saw that Jem was moody and sad, she didn’t want to bother him.

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789 Words | 4 Pages

This quote is a direct example of empathy because Scout says they feel each other's

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875 Words | 4 Pages

“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.

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493 Words | 2 Pages

Another well known lesson taught by Atticus is about empathy. Empathy is defined as: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This is shown in chapter three when Scout encountered some problems with her new, first grade teacher, Mrs. Caroline. The little girl was mature well beyond her years, therefore, when she was asked to read out loud, Scout read with near perfect fluency. However, the teacher was surprisingly displeased with her advanced level in literature and flow, and assuming it was Atticus who was educating his daughter, Mrs. Caroline wanted the ‘lessons’ to come to a stop.

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674 Words | 3 Pages

Scout's growing understanding and acceptance of the people in her community, flaws and all, is one of the most significant ways she demonstrates tolerance. Scout, for example, is terrified of Arthur "Boo" Radley at first and believes the rumors that he is a "monster”. However, as she learns more about him and his situation, she starts to see him as a human being and develops empathy for him. This is demonstrated when Scout says "I was too old and too big for such childish things, but I knew that Jem's ideas about Arthur Radley were, to him, as real as the things he could see" (Chapter 6). This shows that Scout is growing in her understanding of people and her ability to empathize with them.

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971 Words | 4 Pages

Textual Evidence Throughout the whole story, we see many stages of Scouts growing empathy. In chapter 1, when Dill is introduced, Scout without thinking, “Asked Dill where his father was,”(Lee 8). Later in the book, we can observe that Jem was attempting to “mash”(Lee 273) a rollie pollie as she had no empathy for it. But finally, at the end of the novel, Scout finally “sees the neighborhood from [Another] angle.”(Lee 320) . In the first 2 examples of the novel, we see Scout being rather unthoughtful and unempathetic as she did not think of who or what she was hurting.

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Scout repeatedly employs Atticus’ knowledge of walking around in someone else’s skin when faced with a problem that only empathy could fix. For example, Scout applies that idea to Jem when saying, “As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walked around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning... So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him” (62). After Jem lost his pants under the fence at the Radley's house and had to go retrieve them, Scout uses her newfound empathy to try and understand why Jem was pensive and moody after this event. She decides to leave him alone after ‘climbing into his skin.’

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669 Words | 3 Pages

The Intolerance Backlash In the last century, the epidemic of racial discrimination in America is showcased by how society functioned in areas like the South. Their entire social structure once revolved around segregation of not just race, but gender as well. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the normalcy and expectation of racial prejudice is demonstrated in 1930’s deep south. In the movie The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, the ever growing civil rights movement of the 1960’s began to change the view of some southern citizens. The main characters, Scout Finch and Skeeter Phelan, both witness the bigotry and injustice within their society.

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However, Scout is not yet mature enough to think or care about her teacher's perspective. She first begins to show signs of maturity once she and Jem witness the racial injustice that colored people in Maycomb are forced to endure. When Scout sees how this cruelty is affecting Jem she begins to empathize with his feelings and realizes it isn't morally right for Tom to be treated this unfairly. This moment was the first sign of the sprouting of the seed of empathy within her heart. Later in the book when Scout is walking Boo Radley home

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520 Words | 3 Pages

This change occurs over time throughout the novel as she matures. Her perception of tolerance influences the choices she makes and the opinions she has. Prior to the trial, there are older characters that try to teach Scout tolerance. For example, after Scout beats up Walter Cunningham Jr. for getting her in trouble at school, Jem breaks up the fight and apologetically invites Walter over for dinner. Later, during their meal together, Walter pours syrup on his vegetables and meat.

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1247 Words | 5 Pages

Scout admits she feels fine and Atticus asks her what is wrong. She tells him that her teacher, Miss Caroline, says that they cannot read together anymore because she is too advanced for her age. Atticus responds with, “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,”(Lee 39). Though Scout does not fully understand the concept of this lesson, it slowly comes to her as the book advances. She is able to make many connections using what Atticus taught her, and she truly understands the meaning of standing in another person’s shoes.

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614 Words | 3 Pages

She didn 't fully understand what was going on therefore can 't comprehend the miscarriages of justice. As she can 't fully compose adult commentary, the novel was shown in innocence. One advantage of reading this novel from Scout 's point of view is when she experiences something for the first time, so does the reader. Such as when she goes to Cal 's church and experiences the bitterness some black members have towards white members in

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714 Words | 3 Pages

Through To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us the righteousness of empathy. Harper Lee 's technique of writing and coinciding Christian beliefs weaved through emphasizes the importance of the story 's moral and themes. It is through Scout, the young dynamic and protagonist, that Lee opens the reader 's eyes to a realistic world of prejudice and inequality during the 1930s. Though introducing many characters throughout the novel, it is through Lee 's wise father character, Atticus Finch, that she further helps teach her readers life lessons, one being empathy. While narrating in first person, Lee further details her novel with the setting and use of style and diction.

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622 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the character Atticus possesses the most compassion out of the other characters. Atticus is a man of profession, however, his compassionate heart can not be overlooked. Atticus tells Jem to "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (Lee 81) to display his compassion for those who are innocent. Compassion is the concern for the suffering or misfortune of others.

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751 Words | 4 Pages

TITLE “Sometimes I think I’m a total failure as a parent, but I’m all they’ve got. Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him…” Atticus is the teacher figure for his children, Jem and Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

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