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. Compassion towards someone or something that an individual has can spread to others and change their perspective and thought process on that specific subject. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, provides a story of a man who …show more content…
I’m not? He asked the quiet rooms,” (Bradbury 8). In this section of the novel, Montag, the man who meets new people, is having a conversation with Clarisse and out of nowhere she asks if he’s happy. Montag is quick to answer that of course he’s happy, but later realizes that his happiness is like he’s wearing a mask, he’s not really happy. In this part of the story, Clarisse made Montag think of how he was living, which soon influences Montag to see everything that’s happening around him differently. Which causes Montag to try to change his society and bring books back into their lives. In the same book, another character, Faber, influences Montag to think of books differently. Bradbury states, on page 79, “So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the faces of life. The …show more content…
In the short story, All Summer in a Day, by Ray Bradbury, is about a young girl who is treated poorly, because she is not like the other children around her. “In the center of it, cupped and huge, was a single raindrop. She began to cry, looking at it. They glanced quietly at the sky,” (Bradbury page 4). In this portion of the story, Margot is being locked in a closet while the other kids are enjoying the sunlight, which they’ve never seen before. This shows that empathy can make individual’s accept others, because the children finally Margot’s love for the sun and why she was constantly depressed on a daily bases (when the sun wasn’t out). This then changed how the children treated Margot. Ray Bradbury also showed empathy the children showed towards Margot at the end of the story. “ They walked over to the closet door slowly and stood by it. Behind the closed door was only silence. They unlocked the door, even more slowly, and let Margot out,” (Bradbury page 5). Once the students witnessed the sun and had felt the sadness when the sun disappeared they went to finally go let Margot out of the closet. The students having compassion and empathy for doubting Margot and not letting her enjoy the sunlight, resulted in them realizing how bad they treated her for not understanding what she was coming from and her experiences. After the students felt empathy, they then treated Margot no
Compassion has became something rare in our society, and something that a lot of people lack. The author, Barbara Lazear Ascher, explains to us that compassion is not a character trait, but rather something that we learn along the way with the help of real life situations we encounter, such as the ones she encountered herself. Ascher persuades her audience that compassion is not just something you are born with by using anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and allusions.
While walking home, Guy meets Clarisse, a curious seventeen- year- old. This signals the Call to Adventure; Clarisse expands Montag’s thinking, and makes him question his society. “Are you happy?” (Bradbury 7). Montag has always seen himself as happy, but until Clarisse asked, he realized he is not happy. His wife is a ‘stranger’ and a drug addict
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.
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.
... 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.
Many people show empathy for humans like homeless people or ill family members or even just someone in a bad state. These people you can say show responsibility towards those events that are unpredictable in life. There are many people that show this, many people that explain this, and even many people that cause those emotions. These people don’t feel the same things we feel, these people see society in different eyes, in different ways, and in other words in different perspectives. They feel that they cannot forgive people for events that caused them anger, depression, or even made them feel like if they weren't worth anything.
His choice of becoming into an individual himself changes him into a completely different person. As the book gets closer to ending, Montag ends up meeting up with professor Faber. Professor Faber is one of the outcasts because of everything he knows. Montag asked him for help because he started to become interested in reading books. Montag explains to Faber “Nobody listens any more. I can’t talk to the walls because they’re yelling at me. I can’t talk to my wife; she listens to the walls”, Montag started to feel different from the others because society started to move him away from his old actions (Bradbury 78). Also in the beginning, Clarisse asks Montag about the smell of kerosine. This part started to foreshadow Montag as an individual and thinking for himself. Montag would be characterized as the protagonist of this novel. Clarisse’s way of thinking was the reason that mostly influenced Montag to change into an individualist. Her personality made him want to be like Clarisse.
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.
As the novel comes to a close the depth of Holden Caulfield’s character advances. As Holden comes to terms with his emotions and learns how to deal with them effectively. At the same time, he learns about others’ sentiments and how to react to their emotions. When talking to his sister, Phoebe, Holden withdraws from the conversation as it progresses into more emotional depth than he is comfortable with. Aware that his sister “gets very emotional” Holden shy’s away from the conversation as, at this point in time, Holden has not prepared himself to cope with her emotions (Salinger 182). His unwillingness is due to Holden’s inability to endure his own feelings, let alone the emotions of another person. Later in the novel, Holden insinuates
A lack of practicing empathy can negatively impact relationships and society. In the short story, “All Summer in a Day”, by Ray Bradbury, portrays a little girl that is in a society where empathy is less important to encourage younger generations to have. Bradbury states in the 5th paragraph of the story, “‘Aw, you didn’t write that!’ protested one of the boys. ‘I did,’ said Margot. ‘I did.”’ In this quote, the little girl, Margot, just shared a poem with the class and her classmate, William, decided to basically call her a liar and say that she didn’t come up with the poem by herself. As all of this is happening, the rest of class sits there listening and not depending Margot as she gets bullied. The lack of empathy is shown here, because out of the whole class, someone most likely has been bullied before and understands the feeling Margot must be having, but yet no one stands up for her.
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, once said “frequently people think compassion and love are merely sentimental. No! They are very demanding. If you are going to be compassionate, be prepared for action” (values.com). When one thinks of compassion, sympathy and sorrow come to mind. However, compassion also is accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. This can be accomplished by standing up for what one believes is right. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee deeply develops her theme that compassion is understanding someone else’s perspective and using this compassion to stand up against society.
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.
In the story On Compassion, the author, Ascher, explains how no one is born with compassion and must be taught it. A homeless, black man was staring at a women’s baby in the stroller and she offered him a dollar. At first he was hesitant to take it, but eventually did. Later another man walks into an overpriced coffee shop in which the store owner handed him a bag with food. Ascher makes the readers question whether these were acts of fear, pity, or just simply out of the good of heart.
Empathy is a complicated - but significant - trait in society. This characteristic binds people together, resonates within souls, and strengthens bonds. The ability to personally identify with and share others’ emotions, it can make the world a better place in various ways. Shown in the 1960s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, this is an important topic and theme that continues throughout its entirety. It is in her hometown of Maycomb that Scout, the protagonist, faces many biases, slightly atypical neighbors, and unexpected events, and her personality changes preferably. One important character is Boo Radley, believed to be violent and psychopathic, and rumored that he murders, has stabbed his parents, and conducts similar malicious crimes. Scout’s gradual expansion of empathy through her experiences and interactions within Maycomb reveals its importance in understanding people, ultimately suggesting that this
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...