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Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird Theme Essay In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, empathy is an essential theme because the author has the characters learn to understand from other people’s aspects which impact their decisions. Throughout the novel, the children, Jem and Scout, learn to empathize and Harper Lee writes about how they incorporate empathy into various decisions, allowing them to make the right choice. Empathy helps Scout develop a better understanding of her peers because she sees the experience through others’ perspectives; her development of empathy allows Scout to treat those around her better. In the beginning of the novel, Scout does not understand the concept of empathy, making her act inconsiderately towards her peers …show more content…
Scout finally starts third grade, where she has become much wiser. She and Jem stop bothering the Radley residence as they empathize them, understanding what a nuisance it is to have children constantly trying to get Boo to come out, “I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing by the old place, at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley—what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters, delivering greetings on the end of a fishing-pole, wandering in his collards at night” (324). Scout finally understands from Boo’s perspective that it is bothersome to have children trying to get him come out even though he does not want to and has done nothing to them. She realizes that if she was in Boo’s shoes, she would not want to have children constantly bothering her. After Boo saves Scout and Jem, Scout walks him back to his house. Standing on the Radley porch, Scout imagines the events of the novel from Boo Radley’s perspective. He watches through the windows and can see everything, looking over his “children”, Scout and Jem. Scout refers to her and Jem as Boo Radley’s children because the entire time, Boo has been watching over them as if they were his own children, only coming out of his

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