Saturday 4 July 2015

Where would one find 3 quotes with page numbers from To Kill A Mockingbird on empathy?

Empathy happens when one person identifies with the feelings of another person. The one may have or may have not experienced the exact event or feeling before, but vicariously feels what it might be like to be going through what the other is feeling. Feelings of empathy can be both positive or negative; that is to say, they don't always have to be experienced during times of suffering. However, it can be argued that the most powerful feelings of empathy are usually felt when one person sees the suffering of another from the outside looking in. That is the case with Dill, Jem, and Aunt Alexandra in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The trial of Tom Robinson takes a toll on the afore-mentioned characters as they watch the drama unfold around both Tom and Atticus and they face Maycomb society, generations of racism, and death (Tom's eventually). During the cross examination of Tom, Dill breaks down as follows:



"For some reason, Dill had started crying and couldn't stop; quietly at first, then his sobs were heard by several people in the balcony" (198).



Later, outside the courthouse with Scout, Dill explains his crying over how Mr. Gilmer disrespectfully spoke to Tom:



"I don't care one speck. It ain't right, somehow it ain't right to do 'em that way. Hasn't anybody got any business talkin' like that--it just makes me sick" (199).



After the trial was finished, Jem expresses his empathy in the following scene:



"It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered, all the way to the corner of  the square where we found Atticus waiting. . . 'It ain't right, Atticus,' said Jem. 


'No son, it's not right.'


We walked home" (212).



Finally, Aunt Alexandra breaks down for Atticus during a tea party where the racist comments about the trial and society make her feel poorly for her brother having to put up with all of it throughout the long process of the trial. Alexandra leaves the party because she needs a break from it all and she tells Maudie the following:



"'I can't say I approve of everything he does, Maudie, but he's my brother, and I just want to know when this will ever end.' Her voice rose: 'It tears him to pieces. He doesn't show it much, but it tears him to pieces. I've seen him when--what else do they want from him, Maudie, what else?'" (236).



Clearly, Alexandra is emotionally suffering for her brother's trials and suffering. She doesn't break down and cry like the boys do, but she feels her brother's suffering vicariously for sure. 

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