In the year 1693 in Salem, Massachusetts, nearly 200 people were put on trial for witchcraft and wizardry without any evidence at all. Of those, twenty were executed by barbaric methods including being crushed with stone, drowning, and being dropped from a ceiling until their shoulders were dislocated. The trials were fueled by the hysteria of witchcraft in the 17th century and made citizens oblivious to the fact of what could actually be going on with these people. Similarly, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman. After, a trial it becomes evident he was unlawfully convicted of the crime but not to the all white jury who convicted him because of the color of his skin
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In To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus teaches his daughter Scout about empathy and not to prejudice which is the central theme of the book: “For Atticus empathy is about feeling and ‘knowing’ what another person is going through. He does this religiously, even with Bob Ewell” (Chapter 23). In this book Scout is taught not to judge somebody without getting to know them first but even after that she still shouldn’t judge at all. She is put in many situations where there is no empathy and is taught how to use it when others can’t. In the Salem Witch Trials, there was no empathy at all for the victims. People were acting on what they thought but they did not stop and think about what they did: “A group of young girls claimed to be possessed, then a hunt began where 200 people were captured and 20 were executed” (Smithsonian 1). There was no empathy for the victims of this time when there should’ve been in To Kill A Mockingbird except for what Atticus taught Scout. In the Salem Witch Trials there was also no empathy but many years after it happened they admitted it was a mistake. Since they admitted it was wrong they eventually realized what they did but after it happened they eventually felt empathy for the victims of the trials but in To Kill A Mockingbird the only ones who felt empathy were the ones who were
In To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus teaches his daughter Scout about empathy and not to prejudice which is the central theme of the book: “For Atticus empathy is about feeling and ‘knowing’ what another person is going through. He does this religiously, even with Bob Ewell” (Chapter 23). In this book Scout is taught not to judge somebody without getting to know them first but even after that she still shouldn’t judge at all. She is put in many situations where there is no empathy and is taught how to use it when others can’t. In the Salem Witch Trials, there was no empathy at all for the victims. People were acting on what they thought but they did not stop and think about what they did: “A group of young girls claimed to be possessed, then a hunt began where 200 people were captured and 20 were executed” (Smithsonian 1). There was no empathy for the victims of this time when there should’ve been in To Kill A Mockingbird except for what Atticus taught Scout. In the Salem Witch Trials there was also no empathy but many years after it happened they admitted it was a mistake. Since they admitted it was wrong they eventually realized what they did but after it happened they eventually felt empathy for the victims of the trials but in To Kill A Mockingbird the only ones who felt empathy were the ones who were