Why was prejudice invented? Arguably the most ghastly side of human nature, the act of ostracizing and relentlessly condemning social or physical deviation is the cause of so much strife. And yet, it has endured since the beginning of written history. Wherever or whenever someone differs from the norm too much, people have a tendency to move in like a pack of hyenas. What is it that causes people to act this way? Is it insecurity? Is it fear? Whatever prejudice is at its core, it makes people lose control. They give up individual thought to be part of the group. Maybe they feel safer. But there is one thing that causes this mob mentality to fall apart: empathy. If someone puts themselves in another person’s shoes, looks through their eyes, …show more content…
She goes from judging by appearance and reputation to gaining her own conscience. The first time Scout tries to step into someone else’s shoes is after the incident with Miss Caroline, when she begins to realize that both she and her teacher were at fault: “‘I’ll be dogged,’ I said. ‘I didn’t know no better than not to read to her, and she held me responsible…’” (30). Scout is unfamiliar with this kind of deductive reasoning, and it takes a while for her skills to develop. Much later, she uses her empathy to understand the plaintiff in the Tom Robinson case, Mayella Ewell:
…Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years…Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her. But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he was dirt beneath her feet. …show more content…
The consequences of Mayella’s relations with Tom were disastrous and, out of fear, she immediately sold Tom out—because a black man is always worth less than a white man in the eyes of the populace (in 1935). That is also something Scout learns. She begins to realize that if the people would try to see the world through Mayella’s eyes, they might understand what brought her to commit her crime: isolation and loneliness. If the people looked through Tom’s eyes, they would understand the cruelty and injustice behind the Jim Crow Laws. In the last chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is attacked by Bob Ewell, who is killed when Scout is saved by Boo Radley. Once she arrives home after the attack, Scout finally recognizes Boo. She immediately begins making accommodations for his shyness, expressing her understanding of his introverted personality: “Feeling slightly unreal, I led [Boo] to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark” (272). Scout also understands completely when Heck Tate hints that it was Boo who killed Mr. Ewell: “‘Scout,’ he said, ‘Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?’ … ‘Yes sir, I understand,’ I reassured him. ‘Mr. Tate was right.’ … ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’” (276). Scout knows how much it would pain Boo to be put in the spotlight,