To Kill A Mockingbird Essay On Compassion

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The Need For Compassion

Compassion is the pinnacle of a stable wellbeing for people of any color, race or

age. If someone is suicidal, being a supportive individual and showing compassion

towards their outgoing problems help them stray from their experiences and prior

thinking, and into a calm,happy state of mind. Isn’t it obvious that showing support

helps other people? Being compassionate is the key to supporting and protecting our

peers and community from the perils of life. Harper Lee uses symbols and conflict to

emphasize that showing compassion is the right thing to do when someone needs

support which is important because it creates a safe environment for them, comforts

them …show more content…

He has his countless shares of conflict with

people in Maycomb County. Whenever Atticus stands against Bob Ewell in a trial

against the rape of a young girl, Bob Ewell gets very hot headed afterwards, and spits

in Atticus’ face. His son asks him why Atticus did not do anything back. Atticus

merely told him to “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. The man had to have some kind

of comeback, his kind always does. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved

Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly take. He had to take it out

on somebody and I'd rather it be me than that houseful of children out there. You

understand?"(Lee Chapter 23) Atticus’ conflict forces him to show compassion and

understand Bob Ewells feelings, because of the global impact it would have on Bob’s

kids. Harper Lee uses Atticus conflict to display the powerful impact her main

symbol, Atticus, has on the character development of his peers. Atticus has conflict

with other adults, and he even has conflict with his own children. His son Jem …show more content…

Atticus lectures Jem and explains her story and how he needs to "Put himself

in someone’s else’s skin and walk around it,” to truly understand her story and show

compassion to an elder in their community. Harper Lee uses Atticus as a symbol of a

caretaker in the community. Her choice to make Atticus the way he is, by showing

compassion and sympathy is how she truly reaches the reader while using purposeful

writing choices. Atticus Finch is not the only person used as a symbol for compassion and

conflict. His daughter, Jean Louise Finch, also know as Scout, deals with great deals

of conflict. Whether it be about her gender, her age or even school classmates, she

learns and develops maturity while being compassionate towards others. The conflict

in the story greatly presents readers with the extensive character development of

Scout, just by writing about conflict in her everyday life. After Atticus had chosen to

support s colored man in his defense in a rape trial, not only did Atticus receive

backlash, Scout had came across the backlash as well. During school Cecil Jacobs

tells Scouts classmates that “her father defends niggers.” (Lee Chapter 9) Harper

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