Empathy is the ability to understand and share emotions with another individual; Coming together with resilience to develop strong supportive relationships. Truly understanding other people’s feelings, emotions, and experiences is particularly helpful when an individual is experiencing difficulties with life. As a result an individual who carries the characteristic of empathy will also benefit from a high self esteem, reduced loneliness, and a strong sense of who they are, therefore they become more resilient. In The Loons Margaret Laurence suggests in order to truly understand the struggles of another individual, you must first endure a consubstantial experience of your own resulting in empathy, this will build a stronger relationship in which …show more content…
the resilience of an individual is formed. Vanessa is a dynamic protagonist, giving a reality of stereotyping and the harsh truths of society. We see her change from a once naive child, to a woman who can understand the struggles individuals may be faced with. Piquette, a Metis individual who has endured hardships her whole life seems to have gone through it all. Struggling with disease, grief, and racism. Metis during the time this short story was written were faced by numerous challenges of society. They struggled collectively with racism and stereotyping. Margaret Laurence highlights this issue many times within The Loons. Also stressing the hardships many Metis people faced. Vanessa is very young and innocent, as she has not been through a tragic event in her life yet; Piquette has been through many tragic events throughout her short life. Vanessa has an obvious love for nature and appreciates the beauty of Diamond Lake. She spends all summer trying to interact with Piquette and is quick to make assumptions. Such as when Vanessa states “I bet you know a lot about the woods and all that, eh?” (pg 4) With this we see stereotyping from Vanessa. She feels like she has done nothing wrong and is saying the correct thing, that is because of the way she was raised. Society around her has taught her these stereotypes and as she does not know any better. One of these stereotypical influences is coming from her immediate family. This is evident as Grandma MacLeod voices her opinion on Piquette coming on the family trip to Diamond Lake. “...if that half breed youngster comes along to Diamond Lake, I’m not going.” (pg 2) Vanessa is surrounded by people like this everyday. She soaks up the information they give her like any child would. Stereotyping is a major problem of society even today, and it has been passed on from generation to generation. A major reason for Vanessa being unable to empathize for Piquette is due to the fact she does not have the capacity to understand what she has gone through as she is still only a child at the time. Vanessa's immaturity is evident after Piquette states she does not want to “play” with her. As Vanessa goes on to state “... I stamped angrily away, swearing I would not speak to her for the rest of the summer.” (pg 3) Vanessa's failure to understand Piquettes struggles, due to her lack of maturity results in her being unable to show empathy thus unable to build a strong relationship. It is often human nature that we try not to make the same mistakes over and over again. Therefore after an individual has been through a period of grief or depression they tend to try and prevent this from happening again. Many of these people resort to putting up emotional barriers, not letting one into their personal life as they do not want to lose another loved one, or to prevent being hurt again emotionally. Once in this isolated state it is often difficult to overcome. Vanessa does not realise this about Piquette, “I could not reach Piquette at all, and I soon lost interest in trying.” (pg 5) Vanessa can not figure out why Piquette does not want to play or interact with her. Such as when Vanessa suggest to Piquette she should have come along with her to see the loons. Piquettes vague and attitude toward Vanessa is evident when she replies by saying “You wouldn't catch me walkin’ way down there jus’ for a bunch of squawkin’ birds.” (pg 5) Vanessa has had many failed attempts at interacting with Piquette. Often times being a nuisance to Piquette. This is a result of the emotional barriers Piquette has put in place over the years. She never understands Piquette at first as she says “But all that summer she remained as both a reproach and a mystery to me.” (pg 5) Vanessa's too immature to understand why Piquette is the way she is. She cannot comprehend why she is that way and gives up. Her failures are due to a lack of understanding of Piquettes issues. She can not relate to her on any level. Failure to show empathy results in a very weak and almost non existent relationship. Therefore there is no resilience is formed between the two. When the two talk they do not have any common topics, nothing to relate to each other with. This does not allow the relationship in the first place to begin. Despite Piquette and Vanessa being similar ages, Piquette sees Vanessa as a child. This cause problems in the relationship partially due to the fact that Piquette is very mature for her age and does not “play”. However, she is this way because of her tough past. Being able to truly understand grief is difficult to do unless you have been through something similar before.
Vanessa gains a better understanding of one of the many problems that were in Piquettes life at the time as her own father passes from pneumonia. As Vanessa States “For some time I saw nothing around me, being completely immersed in my own pain and my mother’s. (pg 5)” This is the first time Vanessa really experienced a major loss in her life. Often times when families grief they look to each other for empathy and comfort. That's exactly what Vanessa and her mother do. Together becoming more resilient and overcoming their loss together. Vanessa later sees Piquette at Regal Cafe. During the conversation Piquette states “...Your dad was the only person in Manawaka that ever done anything good to me (pg 6)” This statement is an emotional topic for both Vanessa and Piquette. This is another one of the many losses Piquette has had in her life. She now has lost the one person in her life who cared and nurtured for her. After so many years the once impenetrable emotional barriers came down. Vanessa goes on to state that Piquette “...became unguarded and unmasked, and in her eyes there was a terrifying hope. (pg 6)” This is a result of Vanessa's empathy towards Piquette during their conversation. These barriers seem to be crashing down and she is finally seeing a soul in Piquette. It sparks the beginning of a relationship that was non existent before. Often times when empathy in a relationship occurs, both individuals come out of it more resilient and have a better understanding of who the other
is. Resilience is tough for many individuals in society today. Too often when an individual is challenged by society they struggle to be resilient and fall into a spiral leading to stereotypes of society. Society forces these stereotypes on some people, often times not true for many but a handful. This is true not only for metis however, but many different kinds of people and cultures. Piquette had not been doing very well, going to court a couple times for “drunk and disorderly, of course.” (pg 7) The “of course” here indicates racism. But Vanessa does not know the full story of Piquette as she later finds out from her mother. The pressures of society seem to have put her in this terrible position. Once Vanessa learns of Piquettes death and her failed marriage she seems to gain a broader understanding of the situation. Margaret Laurence uses figurative language to compare Piquette to the Loons at Diamond Lake. As Piquette has passed away Vanessa realises “...the loons were no longer here.” (pg 8) The significance of doing this gives the reader an idea of how Vanessa really felt about Piquette. She shared the beauty of the loons with her father, similar to how her father took care of her and Piquette. The significance of making Piquette the loons is to show similarities of the two. Such as the loons not being able to stand human development around them, avoiding society, and being pushed out of their comfort zone when too much human development is around them. This is similar to Piquette and her struggle with the pressures of societal stereotyping, and a combination of many of her own personal battles. Both Piquette and the loons were victims of society's narrow collective consciousness. Vanessa now views Piquette as an individual who has suffered so much her whole life. This is evident when she states Piquette “might have been the only one, after all, who had heard the crying of the loons.” (pg 8) This proves that she has grown to become more mature, and she now understands the struggles of Piquette. She has a better understanding of who she was, and why she was so distant. This created a relationship that came thus to late, as she realizes this after Piquettes death. However, even though Piquette has passed away, she can take something away from the relationship. Leaving the relationship with a better sense of who she is, and what life is. This will result in a greater resilience from Vanessa in the future. The google definition of resilience is “the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.” Many individuals today in society struggle with this. Often times instead of growing stronger from a mistake, they fall into a spiral of events inevitably losing many of the things they once cherished. The resilience of an individual however can be improved, a way to improve one's resilience is to get involved in relationships. Through a relationship individuals can empathize for one another, making each other stronger and more resilient in the process. Now regardless if society picks on one of them, they have one another to support and empathize for. Bonds like these are what people search for, it can be found in family, or with a friend even. In the short story The Loons, author Margaret Laurence suggests for one to comprehend hardships of another, a similar experience of your own must be needed first. Therefore one can empathize for the other, resulting in a supportive relationship that can improve the resilience of both individuals involved in the relationship. When people support one another they become stronger together, ignoring the faulties society points out at them. Every individual in my opinion needs some sort of moral support to keep sanity, as societal pressures and judgments can make one insane.
According to Arianna Huffington in the article “Empathy: What We Need Now”, during hardships and instability of society, empathy is needed to find solutions to those issues. Huffington writes about how empathy is needed in our country in order to produce a positive social change. She begins by giving an example of a movement that Martin Luther King created and how empathy was a part of this movement. King as well spoke of how empathy is the sign of living. To become involved in the situations of humanity in order to improve it, displays that empathy is the core of a human’s existence. After reading this article, I do agree with Huffington about how individuals need to fully understand and put themselves within the situation to fully comprehend the issue to solve.
Like Harvey, Vanessa reacts to situations in ways very similar to the ways her main influences would react to those same situations. When talking to her brother about what to name her new dog she notices that her voice carries a “disturbing echo” of her grandfather’s voice.
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
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
Along with taking on the mother role because her mom can’t handle it she is the father as well. Her father is gone to a military base. Instead of attempting suicide, she should have looked to the good in life. She had a Grandma that was there for her and didn’t want this for her granddaughter. “Stay with me, Vanessa.” (Hopkins page 35). Vanessa had a little brother who had to find her bleeding on a bathroom floor. So, why would she want to put her family through that? She should have looked at her grandma and brother and not given up on life. Should have thought about how much it would suck for Bryan to have to go through life being the boy whose sister killed herself. Vanessa should have had the ambition to live on after her mother was sent away and be a better mother, wife, and human being than her mother could have ever done. Instead of ending the pain the easiest and quickest way possible she could have seen a doctor, gotten a diagnosis and worked to better herself. She should have made the problems in her life a tiny little piece of it instead of her whole entire
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.
This is possibly a social influence that may have caused Margaret to write such a story because she lost her mother too. What is not so similar is the fact that Piquette’s father, Lazarus, was rarely in the picture, whereas Margaret and her father were close; in personality and in character. Because Piquette had no one to help her, she had to take the role of the caregiver or the ‘mother’ because her father was barely there and was not reliable. “[…] Piquette cooks for them, and she says Lazarus would never do anything for himself as long as she’s there” (Laurence 2). Another social Influence is that Margaret and Piquette both have male figures in their lives other than their fathers. Margaret has always had her grandfather and after Piquette got sick, she had Vanessa’s father, who was the doctor that cared for her. “Your dad was the only person in Manawaka that ever done anything good to me” (Laurence 9), she says to Vanessa after her father passed away. Also, another example of a social influence is when Vanessa never cared for the loons that were at the cottage until after they had left and her father had passed away. After Margaret’s father passed away, she says, “I hated him for a long time, even after his death. Now I have a kind of respect and admiration for him” (uudb.org). Having lived life without her father for years, Margaret learned to admire him, just like in the story where Vanessa begins to admire the
Empathy, is a self-conscious characteristic human beings hold that allows them to understand another individual’s situation and feelings (Segal, Cimino, Gerdes &Wagaman, 2013). In regard to ho...
Empathy in literature is a great way by which a writer succeeds in putting the reader in someone else’s shoe, proven efficiently by Charles Dickens in his literary fiction Great Expectations. To emphasize, the reader is made to feel the extent of submission that the main character Pip had to bear. With this in mind, his abusive sister Mrs. Joe who always considered him as a burden and the ever-insulting Estella who considered him coarse, and insignificant; forces the reader to re-experience the character’s agony. Next, Biddy is presented as a caring soul who takes care of disabled Mrs. Joe after the almost fatal attack on her by Dolge Orlick, a revengeful, slouching, and a bitter person. In other words, the reader rides on the tide of compassion
Ruch & Julkunen (2016) further define empathy is attempting to put ourselves in another person’s place to understand their sentiment. This gives us the ability to perceive the service users views and feelings. According to David Howe (2013) if there is no empathy this can this can make it difficult for the conversation to flow consequently the service users’ needs could be overlooked this would make it difficult to sense the service user’s emotions. However Tsang (2016) disputes that empathy can constrain the ability to understand a person or their sentiment due to language, or ethnic differences. These can be barriers making it difficult to understand the person and the empathy can be
Vanessa finds freedom as the novel concludes when she drives past the Brick House as an adult; she finds her escape in the very thing she wished to escape. Grandfather Connor is characterized as the antagonist to Vanessa as he often seems uncaring and distant. When his daughter, Edna, and later Vanessa, bring a boyfriend to the Brick House, he is unable to “be nice, for her [his wife's] sake” (75). Due to these intentional similarities and links between the Brick House and Grandfather Connor, the fact that the house is described at the introduction and the conclusion of the novel as something that Vanessa carries within her heart and as a “hurt.
Afghanistan was a war country where people got attacked by the talibans. In the kite runner a novel by Khaled Hosseini Afghanistan, was a dangerous country. It's the story about a relationship About 2 boys called Hassan and Amir that at this time in the book they were victims and innocents and don't deserve a punishment on the story. People gain empathy when others need the help, when they lose someone, when there's a bond between people and are demonstrating when others have help us we want to help them.
To be able to understand how empathy works between a certain group of people, it is necessary to know what empathy means. I found an interesting definition of empathy, as a crucial component of the helping relationship, a need to understand people ' distress, and to provide supportive interpersonal communication. Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others. Empathy does not mean that we live other people’ emotions, but it means that we understand other people ' emotions from our experiences. Empathy does not mean to cancel your personality, but to understand how people perceive the reality. It is the ability to read information coming through nonverbal channels. In this
Vanessa gets her character traits from her grandfather like arrogance and from mother loving and caring . Vanessa’s relationship with her grandfather is important because of the restrictions that are placed on her. Grandfather cares for Vanessa as her father is no longer living. Just as Vanessa cares for grandfather, when Vanessa is asked if she wants the dog she keeps in mind that her grandfather wouldn’t allow her. “Oh sure, she will.
Empathy also assists me to be helpful to my workmates. If I put their feelings at heart, I will manage to assist them when need be. They could have problems not only at the work place but also in their social life. This may be a hindrance to their productivity at work. In this case I can step in on their behalf. By being helpful to my patien...