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To Kill A Mockingbird Empathy Quotes

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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. One example of sin in this chapter is when Jem cuts up Mrs. Dubose's plants. Although it was well deserved on her part the bible says to honor your father and mother. In this chapter, Jem does not honor Atticus by cutting up Mrs. Dubose's flowers. The quote “‘Easy does it, son,’ Atticus …show more content…

Dubose's impact is summed up in the quote, "Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew" (pg 128). This quote shows Mrs. Dubose's determination despite her racist beliefs and physical frailty. By confronting her struggles and triumphing over them, Mrs. Dubose leaves a lasting impression on Scout's understanding of courage and morality. The introduction of her character gives people an opportunity to empathize with her despite her racist views. Atticus wants Jem and Scout to consider the situations that may have shaped her perspective. In this chapter, Scout's interaction with Mrs. Dubose reveals a significant display of empathy. Despite Mrs. Dubose being bitter and racist, Atticus wants Scout to be kind and understanding towards her. Scout's visits to Mrs. Dubose's house make her realize she is struggling with addiction. Through this experience, the children begin to have empathy and show a deeper understanding of Mrs. Dubose. This understanding prompts Scout and Jem to have empathy towards Mrs. Dubose, seeing how her struggles have shaped her worldview. In the end, this teaches them the importance of compassion and empathy. The quote “...and he would gaze at Mrs. Dubose with a face devoid of resentment” (pg 128) show how over the weeks the children spent with her their hatred started to lessen for the cancerous old

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Frequently in life, it is said that the harmony and relationship between positive and negative must coexist in every situation. To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee, tells the story of a young girl, Scout, and her brother Jem, as they grow up in a segregated American south. Their critical coming of age lesson can be seen in the children’s experiences with Mrs. Dubose, an angry, insulting woman who is later revealed as a courageous figure that battles her morphine addiction by her own means. In chapter eleven of To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem acts out against Mrs. Dubose in defense of his father and family through destroying her prized, beautiful camellia bushes. As punishment, Jem’s father Atticus condemns Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose

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672 Words | 3 Pages

After Jem realizes what happened to Mrs. Dubose he understood what her problem

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913 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus used Mrs. Dubose as an example so Jem could understand what real courage looked like. After Jem realizes his mistake, he began to feel guilty for cutting all the flower heads off. At that point in the novel, the kids realize Mrs. Dubose isn’t just a mean old lady, but that she has more dimensions to her personality. As the evidence shows, Mrs. Dubose is another character in this book that is perceived differently than how she actually

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1941 Words | 8 Pages

This novel also shows us people that are, and are not empathetic to things. It is the main example the children have to learn themselves. In the first few chapters, Scout, Dill and Jem are playing in front of the Radley house. This scenario is the first instance where empathy arises.

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269 Words | 2 Pages

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of “empathy” is frequently apparent. Throughout the novel, the mockingbird is used as a symbol, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy….That ’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 103). The mockingbird relates back to the theme of empathy because it represents the people who were innocent, yet treated unjustly.

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Then Atticus tells Scout that Mrs. Dubose was addicted to morphine and how Scout's reading helps her with her addiction. Also, later on, Mrs. Dubose dies being off of morphine and Atticus says Mrs. Dubose was the Bravest person that he knew. After Scout learns about all of this, her opinion changes, and she feels empathy toward Mrs.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout begin to understand other people’s lives. They start to realize everyone’s survival is different, and everyone deals with unlike situations, and these 2 characters begin to demonstrate lessons of empathy more and more as the book progresses, and there are many places in the book where they show this. In the text, Jem and Scout learn the importance of showing empathy toward others. Throughout the book, there are many pieces of evidence that support this idea.

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578 Words | 3 Pages

Other people are not as mentally stable as Scout, and from dealing with Mrs.Dubose, she has learned how to compromise with others like Mrs.Dubose. Scout was also taught the true meaning of bravery by Mrs.Dubose. Mrs.Dubose told herself that she “was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody” (127). Atticus called her “the bravest person [he] ever knew” as she had “won [...] according to her views” (128). Scout had learned that bravery did not require status or strength, it is when you work through something no matter the result.

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“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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709 Words | 3 Pages

Dubose, and Tom when he shows affection for Mayella even when she accuses him of rape. Tom felt bad for a lonely white woman and he just wanted to show affection and help her even though he knew it would turn out well. Scout’s mind matured throughout the story and she began acknowledging themes likes empathy. Jem thought of things as if he was in someone else’s shoes and took things into perspective that way. Introducing the theme of empathy to the novel helped get the main point of the book across to the

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Mrs.Dubose, an ill, elderly woman who lives close to the Finches, demonstrates rudeness and disrespectfulness, which is a problem for society because people can hurt others emotionally and physically and not care about it. Jem has to read to Mrs.Dubose every day after school and on Saturdays for an entire month as a punishment for destroying her camellias but also, a distraction for Mrs.Dubouse to quit her morphine addiction, one afternoon Mrs.Dubouse comments, “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for a n*****!” (Lee, 117). Not only does she insult Scout over her waiting on tables, but she directs her racism towards Atticus for defending Tom Robinson at the trial, which makes Jem mad. This shows how disrespectful

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670 Words | 3 Pages

Empathy is one of the most fundamental things that keeps society is a whole functioning today, but it is often overlooked when considering people's own interests. However, this scarcely talked about topic is something that is brought up repeatedly throughout the award winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee that is told through the perspective of its main character, Scout Finch. This story shows the importance of why Scout needs to learn empathy , how she learns it, and how Scout uses empathy. Scout was always quick to judge the people around her; this is especially evident during the beginning of the novel when she talks about the town reject, Boo Radley and a poor boy, Walter Cunningham.

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869 Words | 4 Pages

At first, Jem and Scout did not understand what lesson Atticus was attempting to teach them by reading to Mrs. Dubose. However, when they realized this, they acknowledged what they were doing was not a punishment, but a favor for a feeble

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946 Words | 4 Pages

Dubose is also represented falsely. She is seen as a mean old woman but in reality, is not. The first time we hear about Mrs. Dubose is when the children are walking into town and Jem instructs Scout to walk on the sidewalk opposite Mr. Dubose’s house to avoid beginning a conversation with her. Mrs. Dubose yells profanities and accusations from the warmth of her front porch. She is intolerable to some of her neighbors that pass by on a daily occurrence.

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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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