Monday 27 February 2017

What passages in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird show characters to be empathetic characters?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most critical passages that characterizes Atticus as an empathetic character is when he says to Scout, "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" (Ch. 3).

Atticus makes this statement when Scout is complaining about her disappointing first day of school. Atticus's full argument is that if Walter and Scout had seen Miss Caroline's offering of lunch money from her perspective, Walter would not have felt insulted by the offer, and Scout would not have offended Miss Caroline by explaining to her the ways of Maycomb she had yet to learn. Plus, Scout would not have become infuriated to the point that she felt the need to beat up Walter.

Atticus's lesson is one Scout takes very much to heart all throughout the book, giving us further passages that reflect characters as expressing, or attempting to express, empathy. For example, we see Scout attempting to put the lesson into practice when she tries to picture the fear Jem must have experienced while retrieving his lost trousers from the fence around the Radleys' house at 2 o'clock in the morning. Most importantly, we see her put it into practice at the very end of the book when she stands on Arthur Radley's porch and sees him for the fist time as the thoughtful, caring, albeit reclusive, man he truly is.

In addition, we see Atticus practice his own philosophy all throughout the book. For example, he sees things from Calpurnia's point of view when he treats her like an equal member of the family, despite objections from society. Plus, he puts it into practice when he shows respect to the vicious Mrs. Dubose and calls her the "bravest person [he] ever knew" (Ch. 11).

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