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Theme Of Kindness In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, some people do not recognize that someone wants to help them. The people mentioned had been given or received kindness from someone but they do not know that they are trying to help. The types of kindness that will be shown is kindness within the Finch family, kindness shown through neighbours, and kindness of acquaintances. It is shown that kindness is taken for granted. The Finch family takes kindness for granted in different ways. Calpurnia is a busy person but she still spends time with Scout when Jem going through some phases and wanted to be left alone. Calpurnia tells Scout “I just can’t help it if mister Jem’s growin’ up” and Calpurnia tells her “you just come right on in …show more content…

Miss Maudie and Scout sit on her porch because Jem is off doing something else so they talk about life and look at the sky. “Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot…” (42). Miss Maudie lets Scout spend time with her so that she does not get sad that Jem and Dill went to play without her. A neighbour, Mrs. Dubose insulted the Finch Family all the time and yet Atticus is still kind to her because “she is sick and old”. Atticus tells Jem “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable” (103-104). Jem usually ignores people who talk trash about their family but when someone insults Atticus he would be furious but Atticus teaches him to be a gentleman and ignore the hateful comments. One other neighbor, Boo Radley is always behind doors but he shows Scout that he is not a bad person. Atticus knew it was Boo who covered up Scout but Scout says “Thank who?” and Atticus replies with “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (72). Boo wants to be friends with Scout but does not know how and when Miss Maudie’s house was on fire he seen Scout standing in the cold so he put a blanket on her but she didn’t notice. The nearby residents display or accept acts of affection that

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This infers that Boo had somehow managed to figure out that Scout was cold and place a blanket around her. 3. Jem wants to stop Atticus from returning the blanket to the Radleys because he was begun to grow a certain fondness for Boo and he does not want to get him in trouble. Jem even defends him and says, “...he ain’t ever hurt us, Atticus”(Lee 96). The worry that is present in the words Jem speak to his father convey the idea that he does not want anything bad to happen to Boo since he has come out of his house.

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When certain situations happen to people with good morals, they feel empathy for those who do not understand people as easily. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, a respectable lawyer and his children are involved in many unique experiences that help them learn necessary life lessons about society during the 1900’s. Scout and Jem learn a particularly important lesson about racial injustice when their father takes on a life-changing case. Upstanding characters show empathy more than others since good morals lead to self-respect and happiness, it allows people to appreciate the good around them. Throughout the novel, exemplary characters like Maudie Atkinson, Atticus Finch, and Scout Finch demonstrate empathy for characters who don’t

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“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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This is shown when Scout and Jem are trying to get the attention of Boo Radley, their neighbor, who hasn't been seen since he was a teenager. Atticus feels as though these actions were wrong and decides to stand up for Boo. For example, on page 65, Atticus says, “I'm going to tell you something and tell you one time: stop tormenting that man.” In this quote, Atticus is trying to get his children to leave Boo alone and let him be. Furthermore, this comment reveals that Atticus cares for Boo Radley in the sense that he understands how being picked on might make him feel.

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In Harper Lee's famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the themes of sin, understanding, empathy, and the complexities of human nature are prominent ideas that run throughout the story. This chapter helps us explore right and wrong. It also helps us to understand and have empathy for people. Chapter 11 is a crucial part of the book where these themes become more apparent. Lee skillfully portrays their presence both on the surface and in the larger perspective.

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Maturity is a lesson provided from experiences. As children age they’re faced with more challenges to overcome and can experience a new reality. In chapter 12 of To Kill a Mockingbird in which Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout (both white) to the “First Purchase African M.E. Church”, author Harper Lee uses dialogue and imagery to develop the theme of empathy to understand what it’s like to be judged based on the color of one's skin. For instance, by witnessing the dialogue between Calpurnia and Lula, Scout and Jem begin to realize the true feeling of unwelcomeness.

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Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the readers can see how Scout changes her view about Boo Radley. Because of their nosiness, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to drag Boo out his house and to the outside world. Their innocent actions combined with Boo’s actions changed the image of Boo, in their minds, from “a malevolent phantom” (10), a person who kills cats and eats squirrels to a neighbor they can trust, who saves them from Bob Ewell. Scout says at the end, “Boo was our neighbor” (373). The readers can see a great change in their relationship.

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Many people in this world cannot have empathy. Empathy is the ability to share and understand someone’s feelings. In the story "To Kill a Mockingbird,"presents the theme of empathy. Characters in this book show almost little to no empathy, as they are seen acting discriminatory, racist, and can make hostile comments. However, some characters in To Kill a Mockingbird many people in this world cannot have empathy.

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Scout does not realize that Boo has been placing presents until Atticus says to Jem, “You’re right. We’d better keep this and the blanket to ourselves. Someday, maybe Scout can thank him for covering her up” (Lee 72). Scout is confused by who Atticus is referring to until he says, “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the

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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.

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She inspires Scout to be who she wants to be, and shows that dresses are not required to be a lady. During one of the many meetings on Miss Maudie’s porch, she tells Scout, “You are too young to understand it … but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of ― oh, of your father,”(Lee 60). Scout immediately jumps to Atticus’s defense, saying that he has never drunk at all except for one time when he tried it and realized he didn’t like it. Miss Maudie laughs and explains that what she meant was, “If Atticus Finch drank until he was drunk he wouldn’t be as hard as some men are at their best,”(Lee 60).

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Scout looks up to Jem, greatly values his opinion on many different topics and trusts him completely. She follows his lead on may things such as when Atticus enquire about the nature of a game they are playing which depicts Boo Radley , “ Jems evasion told me our game was a secret so I kept quiet.” (Page 45) Jem in turn enjoys spending time with her and adores her.

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Then, Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire in the middle of a cold night, causing the whole neighborhood to wake up and go outside to see what was happening. Jem and Scout were standing in front of the Radley house, watching the fire, when somebody came and put a blanket over Scout’s shoulders. At the time, neither Jem nor Scout noticed this happen, but later they realized it had to have been Boo. Later on, after the Halloween play at the school, the Finch children were walking home in the dark when they were attacked by Bob Ewell. Jem and Scout could have been killed, but again, Boo came out at just the right moment and saved them.

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If not for the major characters, the minor characters have played an equally important role in Maycomb with their contrasting views. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is mainly about Jem and Scout growing up under the difficult situations created in Alabama during The Great Depression. Stereotypes and discrimination are major problems in Maycomb. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by Atticus, with the help of Calpurnia, their maid. In the first part of the book, Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley because of the rumors they hear about him, and they try everything to make him come out of his house.

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Is friendship key to the book called “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. The story “To Kill A Mockingbird” is about friendship, in the story there is a lot of people helping each other out and being there for your friend. The main idea of the story is friendship because there were a lot of dialogue between people that were nice with each other like Atticus and Jem. In the book i found some quotes that help explain friendship one is “Don’t pay attention to her just hold your head high and be a gentleman.” I think that quote really explains friendship to the book and shows people how friendship is and how people care.

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