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To Kill A Mockingbird Empathy Essay

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To Kill A Mockingbird Empathy Essay
Empathy In To Kill a Mockingbird You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around them. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the characters see people in different ways then they usually see them. In this book the story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout Finch the main character is a young girl who’s dad, Atticus is a lawyer who defends a black man Tom Robinson. Scout’s brother Jem and her friend Dill soon find out the real side of their town. In this book the characters Scout, Atticus, and Aunt Alexandre showed empathy. Aunt Alexandre, aunt of Scout and Jem, shows empathy in this book. For instance she had empathy for Jem. She showed empathy for Jem when he broke his arm from falling and she cared for him and saw how and why he got hurt. Also she showed empathy for Atticus. When Atticus lost the Tom Robinson case Aunt Alexandre felt bad for him and understood how he tried very hard to try winning the case. “It Tears him to pieces. He doesn’t show it much but it tears him to pieces”(316). This quote explains how Aunt Alexandre felt towards Atticus when he lost the case. In conclusion Aunt Alexandre showed empathy towards Atticus and Jem. Scout showed empathy for people in this book. One way she showed empathy was for Burris Ewell. On the first day of school Scout observed Burris Ewell and soon found out he only went to school once a year and she didn’t understand that. Atticus told her why and she then understood. Another example Scout showed empathy was for Boo Radley. When Boo saved Scout and Jem Boo later asked scout to take him home and scout did. When Scout stood on his porch she saw what Boo would see out of his window and she could see all of town. Boo felt overwhelmed. “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them”(374). This is what Scout thought after walking Boo home. Boo felt overwhelmed. On the whole Scout showed empathy for Boo and Burris. Atticus showed empathy to other characters in this book. For example Atticus had empathy for Mayella. He showed empathy when Mayella showed her side of the Tom Robinson case and saw how Mayella said Tom raped her and that she doesn’t get much help around the house. Another example of Atticus showing empathy was with Tom Robinson. Atticus defended Tom in the case in which Tom was prosecuted of rape. Atticus heard Toms side of the case and Tom told him how he was scared when this incident happened. “Mr. Finch if you was a negro like me, you’d be scared, too”(261). In summary, this book by Harper Lee Scout, Atticus, and Aunt Alexandre showed empathy. Aunt Alexandre shows empathy in this book for Atticus and Jem. Scout shows empathy for Burris and Boo. Atticus shows empathy for Tom and for Mayella. You never will know a person and understand what their feeling until you see it through their own eyes.

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