Theme Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

There is a common saying that says, "Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes.” It is important to have empathy for others, or, as the saying goes, to walk in another’s shoes. This theme can be explored in texts such as “A Christmas Memory”, “Marigolds”, Mississippi Trial, 1955, and To Kill a Mockingbird. In “A Christmas Memory”, a young boy of seven named Buddy lives with his distant cousin, a sixty-year-old woman, whom he calls his friend, until he is forced to leave due to his disapproving relatives. In “Marigolds”, a teenage girl named Lizabeth loses her childhood innocence after an incident in which she heartlessly crushes her neighbor’s flowers. In Mississippi Trial, 1955, a teenage boy, Hiram, visits his grandfather in a quiet Southern town during a murder and its subsequent trial, to the dismay of his father. Finally, in To Kill a Mockingbird, a girl, Scout, matures during a race-related rape trial. The theme of empathy is evident in many aspects of life, as is revealed in “A Christmas Memory”, “Marigolds”, Mississippi Trial, 1955, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Truman

The protagonist Scout Finch remarks, “I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all the time…It’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 304). In the quote, Scout has an epiphany about how to treat Boo Radley, her reclusive neighbor whom Scout had tried to make leave his home. Next, Scout’s father Atticus says to his son, “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes for a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with” (Lee 292). In the second, Atticus teaches Jem the reason why Bob Ewell’s actions were committed, instead of letting Jem hold onto the assumption that Bob is solely a horrible person who commits bad deeds with no