Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

1318 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: the loss of childhood innocence in to kill a mockingbird

Why is it a sin to kill a mockingbird? They do no harm; they only make beautiful music. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee answers this by telling the story of a young girl, her family, the town drunk, and the crazy man next door. This story, set during the Great Depression, touches on topics such as prejudice, racism, and empathy, all of which are relevant today. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about empathy and reveals that even though everyone is born with the ability to use empathy, only some choose to use it, only some try to learn it, and others let prejudice and outside perspectives shade their ability to use empathy at all. Used by the characters of To Kill a Mockingbird, empathy is shown by using perspective to understand each other. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the narrator of the novel, first uses empathy when she “rose graciously on Walter’s behalf” (Lee 26; ch. 2). This is on Scout’s first day of school. At lunch, one of the students, Walter Cunningham, does not have a lunch. Miss Caroline, the teacher, offers Walther a quarter to buy himself a lunch. He sits at his seat silently and Scout explains the situation on behalf of Walter. She explains that the Cunninghams never take anything that they can not pay back and Walter would not be able to pay Miss Caroline back. She does
The use of empathy allows people to understand each other by seeing things from a different perspective. Teaching others to use empathy allows the use of empathy to be expanded, allowing more people to understand each other, even when they disagree. Ignoring empathy due to prejudice hurts people. When not everyone is equally heard, considered, and respected, mockingbirds are killed. It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing but make beautiful music for all to

Show More
Related

  • Empathy Quotes In To Kill A Mockingbird

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch demonstrates himself as an honest lawyer, a loving father, and a symbol of righteousness through his beliefs that he instills in his children. Atticus Finch values empathy, respect, and bravery, and he proves himself as a moral compass by teaching both Jem and Scout these values in the form of life lessons.

    Read More

  • Empathy and Social Change in To Kill a Mockingbird, Milk, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... order to make a larger difference. They do so by either telling their story, asking the audience directly to think about an issue, or by putting them in someone else’s shoes. When faced with difficult topics involving class, race, and/or sexual identity, using empathy as a tool to think about the issues is more beneficial to creating lasting social change than having the mindset of “this doesn’t affect me so why should I care?” Having knowledge of, being attentive to, and vicariously experiencing others positions, allows one to be empathetic to the situations that affect people’s lives every day, in hopes that change will occur, progressively. When we are privileged or members of the dominant group, we tend to not notice, or take for granted, the things that marginalize others. Using empathy as a vehicle for social change helps to make the unconscious conscious.

    Read More

  • Empathy In Fahrenheit 451

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Empathy is used to create change in the world by reaching out to the emotions of people and attending to them. It is used to help others learn and decide on matters that would not be reasonable without feelings attached to them. Empathy helps bring together communities that would have long ago drifted apart, but instead welcomed all who were different. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This attribute of human-beings really allows us to not only attend to situations as if they were our own, but it allows us to feel most of what others feel because humans are very much alike in some ways. In many of the articles and novels that we have read this quarter, characters from different pieces of context have portrayed empathy whether it was toward

    Read More

  • Unsympathetic Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    I am reading, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In the first three chapters Jem and his younger sister Scout meet Dill, who stays over at his Aunt’s house in the summer. Dill becomes fascinated with the Finches neighbor; also know as the town creep Boo Radley. He is so interested in Boo because he allegedly killed his father and ever since never comes outside. In this journal, I will be predicting that the kids will not meet Boo.

    Read More

  • Empathy: Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

    879 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy had a huge role in the novel. Empathy really affected Atticus. When the food was brought to the table, Atticus had a huge meltdown. His emotions came out, he was disappointed at the jury and all of the things going on in Maycomb County. It affected the way he carried himself, and he was very grateful for the things that he had in his life. Empathy affected Jem mentally. It changed his perspective and how he viewed things. When he heard the word “guilty” he completely loses it. He said he never wants Dill to ever speak of the trial. Scout’s empathy affected her emotionally. All the time she wanted to Meet Boo Radley. When she did, she was speechless. She knew him because her mind was telling that she recognized this man. That wraps up the theme of

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird: A Story of Empathy

    738 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the first lessons taught in Mockingbird is the power of understanding other people’s perspectives. Initially, Scout has trouble empathizing with other people, especially her first Grade Teacher, Miss Caroline, whom Scout becomes frustrated at for not understanding Maycomb’s complex social structure. After hearing his daughter complain, Atticus tells Scout that she'll “get along a lot better with all kinds of folks [if she] considers things from [their] point of view” (39). After ‘standing in the shoes of another person’, it is much harder to be prejudiced towards that person. Indeed, this may be because a key tenet of prejudice is disregarding the views of whoever is being judged. Nevertheless, it proves difficult for Scout to grasp this relatively simple concept, who begins to hear rumors of Boo Radley, an enigma who has not been seen outside his home for over 30 years. Thus begins Jem and Scout’s quest to make Boo Radley come outs...

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Empathy Analysis

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Being able to empathize is an important trait to acquire and use. The ability to empathize goes beyond sympathy, it is to put “yourself in someone 's shoes”, or to understand and share the feelings of another through the use of imagination. One reason it might be important is that empathy can help to deal with the negativity of others, while somebody may bring you down by saying rude comments you can empathize that perhaps they are going through hardships and it 's hard to keep inside anger for a long time, so they unleash it on you. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus is a role model to his children, he’s a kind, loving and a smart

    Read More

  • Theme Of Compassion In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird By: Brandon, Thomas Compassion, understanding and forgiveness. "Any ordinary favour we do for someone or any compassionate reaching out may seem to be going nowhere at first, but may be planting a seed we can't see right now. Sometimes we need to just do the best we can and then trust in an unfolding we can't design or ordain. " Sharon Salzberg.

    Read More

  • The Reflection Of Empathy, By Stephen Dunn

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is imperative to teach kids from a young age in order to help them recognize mental states, such as thoughts and emotions, in themselves and others. Vital lessons, such as walking in another’s shoes or looking at a situation in their perspective, apprehends the significance of the feelings of another. Our point of view must continuously be altered, recognizing the emotions and background of the individual. We must not focus all of our attention on our self-interest. In the excerpt, Empathy, written by Stephen Dunn, we analyze the process of determining the sentiment of someone.

    Read More

  • Empathy

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is the term used for emotional understanding. Empathy is a special skill that many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird possess or develop throughout the course of the story. Harper Lee shows the importance of empathy throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Atticus being empathetic, Atticus teaching the kids to empathize or them empathizing themselves in certain situations. Empathy is truly the great gift of humanity.

    Read More

  • Prejudice And Empathy In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in Alabama in the 1930s, and concerns itself primarily with the interrelated themes of prejudice and empathy. These themes are explored as the story follows Scout Finch as she learns lessons in empathy, ultimately rejecting prejudice. While all characters in Lee’s novel learn from their experiences, not all are able to grow in the same manner as Scout. The idea of a positive role model, typified by the character of Atticus Finch, and the ramifications of its absence, is a concept that Lee places much emphasis on. The isolated setting is also pivotal in the development of characters. Lee uses the contrast between characters that learn lessons in empathy and compassion, and characters that cling to the ideals of a small town, to explore factors that nurture or diminish prejudice.

    Read More

  • How Does Scout Show Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings with others. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are many characters who showed the quality of empathy. A few examples who undoubtedly showed empathy were the main characters Jem, Atticus, and the narrator Scout Finch. These characters learned and demonstrated compassion throughout the book.

    Read More

  • Compassion and Tolerance in To Kill A Mockingbird

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scout first learns to show compassion and tolerance by refusing to go to school because she hates Miss Caroline. Atticus tells her that, 'First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. 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'; (30). When Atticus told her this, she began to accept Miss Caroline as well as other people's differences and opinions.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Empathy In Society

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    When children are surrounded by compassion for each other and their troubles, they learn to also present the same feelings for others. It is important especially in schools because this is where children go to learn, and if they see that people are demonstrating empathy towards each other than they might try to replicate those same emotions in themselves. An example of this is in the U.K. where schools had implemented a more lenient dress code to help address the feeling that students had. Some students did not feel comfortable in the mandatory school uniform. The new dress code at this school allows girls to wear pants, and the boy students to wear skirts if they wanted to. This is a display of empathy because the school understood the feelings of their students, that they did not feel like themselves in the school uniforms, and made adjustments to make them feel more comfortable in their clothes. Lastly, empathy is shaping society because empathy allows people to imagine what life would be like from another person’s perspective. This would make them less likely to do anything relating to their concerns or worries, or make them want to help that individual more. To further explain, a program was created to help refugees in which the people who created it showed empathy towards these people who have been through a lot. In order to do their best to help these children the people responsible for

    Read More

  • Importance Of Pet Essay

    761 Words  | 2 Pages

    Empathy is the sharing of feelings of another. According to Cheri Thompson, "I knew that these children would be different if someone just reached out to them," Thompson said. "If the missing link with these kids is compassion because they're not receiving it ... let's take an opportunity to act on that in a positive way. They're going to see that all life is valuable, and that includes their life, too." Thompsons’ quote can be extended to other people too such as

    Read More

More about Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

Open Document