“Being loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage” (Tzu 41). The concept of courage stemming from brotherly love, as stated by Tzu, has been touched for many eons, even by contemporary writers and philosophers such as Dr. King and Harper Lee. King’s article, “An Experiment in Love”, describes the unity of all men and the powerful emotion of love. Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, details the adventures of Jem and Scout and how their father, Atticus, demonstrates wisdom and courage through defending To Robinson, an accused rapist. Martin Luther King Jr’s article, “An Experiment in Love”, corroborates that To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a love story by stating that the only way to solve the issue
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An interesting concept in King’s article is that “agape” means “understanding” (King 17). He is stating that unconditional love is when one tries to understand others and as a result, fixes one’s own misconceptions or judgements. Courage to change themselves springs up from that love . Lee displays this when Scout “stands in [Boo’s] shoes” (Lee 279). She is courageous in this quote because she decides to “stand in [Boo’s] shoes” after so many years of being exposed to and believing the myths about him being a monster. This stems from her decision to love him through “understanding”, and is significant because it displays how much she changes, as her own bravery came from “agape”. King takes this a step further in his article, as he states that the love in nonviolence “is not a strategy that one uses simply because it is expedient”, but because “it is a way of life” (King 17). He is saying that if one wants to move others from the path of racism and discrimination, one first has to change themselves. He emphasizes that those who love others will have the courage to destroy their own misconceptions or prejudices. Lee’s character, Mr. Underwood, a known racist, embodied this idea when he wrote in his article that Tom’s death was similar to “the senseless slaughter of a songbird” (Lee 241). By opening himself up to love and understanding of the black community as a result of the unfair trial, he became humanized and publicly changes his own discriminatory ideas despite the risk of backlash from the community. His drastic change from racism exemplifies the powerful strength that one receives from love, and how he made it his “way of life” by publicly endorsing a viewpoint that was against his society’s. By being more open minded about others, Scout and Mr. Underwood gained the courage to help themselves. Love
An interesting concept in King’s article is that “agape” means “understanding” (King 17). He is stating that unconditional love is when one tries to understand others and as a result, fixes one’s own misconceptions or judgements. Courage to change themselves springs up from that love . Lee displays this when Scout “stands in [Boo’s] shoes” (Lee 279). She is courageous in this quote because she decides to “stand in [Boo’s] shoes” after so many years of being exposed to and believing the myths about him being a monster. This stems from her decision to love him through “understanding”, and is significant because it displays how much she changes, as her own bravery came from “agape”. King takes this a step further in his article, as he states that the love in nonviolence “is not a strategy that one uses simply because it is expedient”, but because “it is a way of life” (King 17). He is saying that if one wants to move others from the path of racism and discrimination, one first has to change themselves. He emphasizes that those who love others will have the courage to destroy their own misconceptions or prejudices. Lee’s character, Mr. Underwood, a known racist, embodied this idea when he wrote in his article that Tom’s death was similar to “the senseless slaughter of a songbird” (Lee 241). By opening himself up to love and understanding of the black community as a result of the unfair trial, he became humanized and publicly changes his own discriminatory ideas despite the risk of backlash from the community. His drastic change from racism exemplifies the powerful strength that one receives from love, and how he made it his “way of life” by publicly endorsing a viewpoint that was against his society’s. By being more open minded about others, Scout and Mr. Underwood gained the courage to help themselves. Love