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How Is Empathy Shown In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Empathy is how a person feels and expresses their feelings about something. There are several displays of empathy throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird that show the reader true insight into what the characters feel. Several articles in the StudySync series do a great job of showing the reader examples of empathy by giving the reader insight on people’s lives who were discriminated against or couldn’t use their voice. However, To Kill A Mockingbird does a better job of displaying empathy for those that cannot speak up for themselves by using characters like Mayella Ewell and Boo Radley as examples for Scout to express her empathy. They allow her to show empathy because they are people that she interacts with and she understands that with all of the trouble in their lives, they are not able to use their voice and speak for themselves when they need to. This is how the book connects to a reader on a deeper level than the poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson.

Both To Kill A Mockingbird and Studysync focus on empathy. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, develops Scouts empathy by making her understand other people’s lives and their troubles, which makes her more sympathetic towards …show more content…
There are many rumors about Boo Radley as to why he is confined to the Radley house, and what he does in there. Scout believes that Boo is a big, scary man that “dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch.”(16) However, Atticus says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.”(39) This helps Scout show sympathy for others, especially when she begins to receive little gifts in the tree. She begins to try to understand how lonely he must be in that house, and she feels empathetic towards him. Since it is a first person story, the reader knows only what Scout knows, and feels how Scout

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