A Walk in Someone’s Shoes Empathy is defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, a skill most humans do not acquire. That is why Atticus Finch stresses the point of being empathic and not quick to judge through several situations regarding three different people. The reasoning behind this is due to the fact Atticus understands how first impressions of people can be misleading and incorrect. The most feared person, as shown as Boo Radley, could end up being a town hero. Having empathy for everyone despite their differences leads to the realization of the importance of being optimistic and compassionate as shown in harper lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, through a “scary” neighbor, a less fortunate child, and an immature man with the realizations made by Atticus Finch with his children Scout and Jem Finch. Through a young child in the book called Walter Cunningham, Scout learns to be empathic for the less fortunate. Walter Cunningham came from an impoverished family and not as fortunate as scout who was of the same age. Atticus’ …show more content…
Harper lee grew up in a time period where African-Americans did not have much choice and were not treated equally. She was able to see firsthand how segregation played a roiled in the injustice happening. Now a day, even though segregation is nonexistent, there is still controversy between black and white lives. There is still injustice occurring such as in the police department today. Although there are different campaign such as Black Lives Matter, equality between different ethnicities/races is not being measured out equally. When Harper Lee wrote thus book she wanted to leave the reader with a message. This message was to be kind and compassionate to others despite our differences and to be empathic to those
There are some people in this world that can truly understand, or try to understand people and their feelings. They can relate to them on some sort of level. Then there's is plenty of people in this world who have no empathy at all. They don’t feel for people or even try to understand. That's exactly why everyone should read To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The book is about a little girl named Scout and her older brother Jem, who is going through some changes as they grow older in the racist south where their father, a lawyer has a case about a black man raping a white woman. Over the course of the book, both characters grow in great measures. Their father is always teaching them in little ways what’s right/wrong, and what’s good/bad.
Through the development of Scout’s relationship with Arthur Radley, Scout develops and becomes more empathetic. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is her most consistent role model and used by Lee as the moral compass. Atticus is a firm believer in teaching by example, and his respect of his children is such that he treats them almost as adults, emphasised in the line ‘he played with us, read with us, and treated us with courteous detachment’ pg. 6. This refusal to shelter Scout from the harsh realities of life in Maycomb allows her to learn from experience. The strong moral guidance offered by Atticus allows Scout not only to learn from experience, but also to develop her personal integrity. Atticus exemplifies his strong beliefs, as illustrated when he says ‘Shoot
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, empathy is demonstrated throughout the novel. Empathy can be defined as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Atticus tries to explain to Jem and Scout about what he experiences and the things that are happening in Maycomb County. Several characters learn empathy and understand how they feel about certain things and understand the experiences of others. This plays a major role in the novel.
Have American’s lost the ability to show empathy? Although a novice reader may struggle to see how a book written over 50 years ago bears any connection to our modern world, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird could not be any more relevant. The citizens of fictional Maycomb County acknowledge their flawed legal system and unfair social castes as unfortunate truths of life, of which all you can do is accept it as fact. The sole exception is lawyer Atticus Finch, who is in charge of defending the accused in court. After seeing all too many men receive a sentence simply because of the color of their skin, Atticus embarks on a quest to teach Jem and Scout, his children, that prejudice can be fought. By understanding and exposing ourselves to different people, we can free ourselves from prejudice.
Harper Lee was the youngest of four children, a situation that often made her feel it was necessary to act out: “As a child, Harper Lee was an unruly tomboy. She fought on the playground. She talked back to teachers. She was bored with school and resisted any sort of conformity” (Stark). Her sister, Alice, who was fifteen years older, agreed with this description, admitting that Harper “isn’t much of a conformist” (Shields 2). In fact, Harper tried her best to be incongruous and not blend in with the other kids. She was often thought of as a social outcast to people who didn’t know her. Countless would agree that she often acted impetuously and without thought. She had not the restraint and self control as a child should, and often caused harm t...
“The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” –Meryl Streep Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This particular skill requires one to walk around in someone else’s shoes. It is a very valuable emotional skill that develops in many characters during the course of the novel. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, empathy is consistently present whether it’s Atticus being empathetic, Atticus teaching the kids to empathize or them empathizing themselves in certain situations.
The author behind the influential and famous novel To Kill A Mockingbird is a woman by the name of Harper Lee. This ingenious woman made magic with only her inventive mind, creative imagination, past experiences and passion for kindness and equality. She was born and raised in a time of prejudice and racism but she always found a way to keep her goodness intact. She never let herself get corrupted or influenced by frivolous and uneducated people. Harper Lee’s influences as a child and views of society as an adult inspired her to fight against the world’s prejudice outlook on life by writing To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel that argues against society’s biased views toward racism.
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.
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.
The 1930’s were a time in which blacks faced many hardships. It was a time in which the Ku Klux Klan had its peak. However, most importantly, it was the time when Nelle Harper Lee, the writer of To Kill A Mockingbird, was being raised. She was raised in a world where “niggers'; were the bottom class in one of the most powerful countries in the world. She was also being raised during the Great Depression, a time when the attacks on blacks were intensified, as they were the scapegoats of the immense downfall of the US economy. However, she was only a small, innocent child who believed in equality for all. Thus, Harper Lee expressed her disapproval over the treatment of blacks in her Award-Winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, through the eyes of a fictional character called Jean Louise Finch, better known as “Scout';.
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
In addition, Scout learns about morality from Atticus after she is taunted at school. Cecil Jacobs begins giving Scout trouble at school because Atticus is defending a black man. Scout isn’t sure what he means by that or why it is such a bad thing, so she consults Atticus to learn more about the matter. Atticus explains to Scout that he is defending Tom Robinson, a black man, in a trial. Atticus says he has to do it although he knows he isn’t going to win, he says “‘ If I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t this county in the state legislature. I couldn't even tell you and Jem not to do something again’’’ (100). Atticus wants to fight for what he believes is right, even if there is almost no chance of him winning. In addition, Atticus asks Scout not to fight when someone makes comments about him or this case. Through Atticus actions, Scout learns to have integrity, even if it means making tough decisions. For example, Scout walks away from a
The novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee has numerous accounts of racism and prejudice throughout the entire piece. The novel is set in the 1930's, a time when racism was very prevalent. Although bigotry and segregation were pointed in majority towards blacks, other accounts towards whites were also heard of, though not as commonly. There are acts that are so discreet that you almost don't catch them, but along with those, there are blatant acts of bigotry that would never occur in our time. Lee addresses many of these feelings in her novel.
“To Kill A Mockingbird” is marvelous and unforgettable novel. Not only show how dramatic, sad in and old town – Maycomb be like, but through her unique writings, some big conflicts about politics and critical is going on through this tired old Southern town. Not just in general like education, friendship, neighbors but also pacific in individuals like family and the people’s characteristics themselves. In one book yet can covered with such many problems, Harper Lee must have been experienced a lot and deeply understanding that time. That is why the book lives, becoming literature and get the love from the audiences a lot. One of the problem and mostly run along with the story and interest me is racism between white people and black people socially.
To start off, Scout early on figures out what it means to have empathy and to care about others. After Scout and Atticus ate