Lily Altman English 9 September 11, 2017 How Root and The Housekeeper show Empathy for Others Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone’s shoes, and see a situation from their perspective, and be able to speak their language, instead of just sit back and feel sorry for them. In the books, The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, empathy is demonstrated by two characters who are able to not only sympathize for another character, but understand situations they are in, and try to act accordingly to the problems at hand. In The Housekeeper and the Professor, Root demonstrates empathy for the professor by understanding his memory situation, and acting maturely …show more content…
“‘Are you going to tell your father about this?...No…Good. I think that’s a good idea Christopher.”(Haddon 75) This is empathy because she puts herself into his situation, and instead of advising Christopher to tell his father about the book, she thinks about what would be best for Christopher, and tells him it is a good idea to keep a secret from his father, which is not usually something a guidance counselor/teacher would advise a child to do. Another time Siobhan demonstrates empathy is when she talks to Christopher about telling the truth, and reaches out to him if he wants to talk. “Are you telling the truth, Christopher?...I always tell the truth... I know you do, Christopher. But sometimes we get sad about things and we don't like to tell other people that we are sad about them.” (Haddon 75) This is empathy because she can speak his language, and is able to recognize when he is sad, knowing if she were in that situation, she would want to talk to somebody about why she was sad. Because Siobhan is empathetic and able to understand Christopher’s feelings, this demonstrates her leadership potential because she is able to realize somebody’s feelings and reach out to them, which is a skill a good leader should …show more content…
This demonstrates his leadership potential because he is able to put himself before others, and their needs first, and can trust other people, which is a sign that he can work with others. Siobhan is empathetic when she gives Christopher honest advice, because she is able to speak his language and recognize when she should reach out to him. This demonstrates her leadership potential because she is able to perceive other people’s
Malcolm Gladwell’s Usage of the Straw Man Method of Persuasion in What the Dog Saw
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
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Compassion and empathy inspire change in a society whether it be changing individual’s usual way of thinking, uniting, or accepting those who are different. Individuals can use their compassion for something to cause a change in someone else’s thought of that thing. Several people have used empathy to bring others feelings together. People can also use empathy to show others to have acceptance towards ones who may not be like themselves.
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.
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.
Mark Haddon’s novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, is an autobiographical murder mystery narrated from the perspective of an autistic teenager, Christopher Boone. Throughout the text, Haddon cleverly positions the audience to experience life through the perspective of one who cannot hope to grasp the subtle nuances of human interactions and societal norms. Christopher’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shapes not only what we the audience are able to experience, but also subverts the structural features of the text itself, thereby openly flouting the rules of conventional storytelling. In doing so, Haddon is able to explore everyday settings and events through the perspective of a highly unconventional narrator, thus allowing
“It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs.Shears's house.” The way an author narrates their book is a very important factor in the reader’s understanding. The book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon is narrated in first person by a 15 year old autistic boy named Christopher Boone. Having the book narrated by an autistic boy is not a good idea because readers can understand some situations better than Christopher could, he has trouble determining how others feel and he’s always explaining things he doesn’t understand, but most readers do. Christopher is an inadequate narrator which frustrates the readers.
Burton defines empathy as the ability to not only recognize but also to share another person’s or a fictional character’s or a sentient beings’ emotions. It involves seeing a person’s situation from his or her own perspective and then sharing his or her emotions and distress (1). Chismar posits that to empathize is basically to respond to another person’ perceived state of emotion by experiencing similar feelings. Empathy, therefore, implies sharing another person’s feeling without necessary showing any affection or desire to help. For one to empathize, he or she must at least care for, be interested in or concerned about
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
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.
Both texts of literature begin with descriptions of how comfortable, and secure both characters feel in action. In Empathy, Stephen Dunn who is about to fight in the war. The biggest influence was that he realises that it was the feeling of empathy, learning to be able to imagine himself in different other beings’ perspectives. When Stephen went back to Fort Jackson, he finally comprehends that only the sergeants and a few rawboned farm boys took
A person you barely know, suddenly, bursts into uncontrollable tears, shocked, you turn to her and ask, “what’s wrong?” You may not know this person, or even like her, but empathy is a powerful thing. Empathy drives people to do things they don't necessarily have to do, these empathetic decisions define our character. The choice to say something and not just let another human cry, is driven by your character and how much empathy you have for others. John Steinbeck uses empathy all throughout his novel, Of Mice and Men mainly through characterization. Lennie and George, two buddies who travel together, are the main characters in Of Mice and Men. George is small, smart and fast, whereas, Lennie is large, slow and quite dumb. This combo may seem
Empathy is one of the greatest powers that a human being can ever hope to achieve; one person being able to understand the inner-workings of another is something truly amazing. However, empathy isn’t something that one is always naturally able to accomplish; in fact, it usually takes a long time for one to develop any empathy at all. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the reader follows Scout Finch as she experiences her youth in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. In this story, we experience her empathy for others as it increases or decreases. Though there are many examples of these alterations in Scout’s relationships, there is one that is both prominent and more complex than a few others; her relationship with her aunt, Alexandra. There are three specific instances in which we can track the progression of Scout’s empathy towards her aunt; meeting Aunt Alexandra, Scout wanting to invite Walter Cunningham over, and the assault by Bob Ewell of Scout and Jem.
The book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” talks about a curious boy with autism whose name is Christopher John Francis Boone. Christopher tries to solve a case of Mrs. Shears,his neighbor, dogs skeptical death. Christopher lives only with his father. His father tells him that his mother died in the hospital, but she really didn't die. She is still alive and is living with Mrs. Shears ex-husband. The reason why Christopher’s mother isn’t living with him anymore is because she cheated on her husband with Mr. Shears. Christopher starts to slowly understand what was happening then he goes out trying to find his mom in London.
Empathy is the ‘capacity’ to share and understand another person’s ‘state of mind’ or their emotion. It is an experience of the outlook on emotions of another person being within themselves (Ioannides & Konstantikaki, 2008). There are two different types of empathy: affective empathy and cognitive empathy. Affective empathy is the capacity in which a person can respond to another person’s emotional state using the right type of emotion. On the other hand, cognitive empathy is a person’s capacity to understand what someone else is feeling. (Rogers, Dziobek, Hassenstab, Wolf & Convit, 2006). This essay will look at explaining how biology and individual differences help us to understand empathy as a complex, multi-dimensional trait.