Empathy is the ability to understand someone else and see the world through his or her perspective. Some say that one cannot truly know a person unless he or she has empathy for them. This idea, commonly phrased as “walking in someone else’s shoes,” is demonstrated throughout the works of Harper Lee. Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, uses characterization of the two children in the story, Scout and Jem, to display that empathy is necessary for truly knowing and understanding someone else.
Lee uses characterization of Scout to portray that one can have a skewed view of someone else until they step into the other persons shoes. At the beginning of the story, Scout describes Boo as a “malevolent phantom” (Lee 8). A synonym of malevolent …show more content…
When Jem gives a description of Boo at the beginning of the book, he says that Boo “…dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch…” (Lee 13). From this description, Jem portrays Boo as a lunatic who cannot be trusted outside of his home. The description that Jem gives Boo is an unrealistic depiction of any human, let alone a person whom Jem has never met. Jem also hears Mrs. Maudie talk about how “Boo was locked in the courthouse basement” (Lee 11) then went home and was never seen since. After gathering this information, Jem is convinced that Boo is locked inside his house because he is a threat to others and needs to be locked up. Jem does not realize this statement about Boo is not true until he begins to see the world how Boo sees it. Jem is having a conversation with Scout when he questions, “…why do they(society) go out of their way to despise each other” (Lee 227). Here Jem has a coming of age moment, he starts seeing that on the outside of Boos 4 walls the world is an evil place. He then continues and says, “…I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up…it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 227). This conversation is where Jem starts to truly understand Boo. He sees that Boo is not an evil man who must be tamed, instead, he stays inside to avoid the madness. If Jem would’ve never seen the world through Boo’s eyes, he would have never understood the real reason why Boo stays inside. In conclusion, the reader sees that when one stops looking at the world through his or her eyes and sees the world through a mind more of someone else’s caliber, he or she can know and understand that person and their
Lee uses characterization of Scout to portray that one can have a skewed view of someone else until they step into the other persons shoes. At the beginning of the story, Scout describes Boo as a “malevolent phantom” (Lee 8). A synonym of malevolent …show more content…
When Jem gives a description of Boo at the beginning of the book, he says that Boo “…dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch…” (Lee 13). From this description, Jem portrays Boo as a lunatic who cannot be trusted outside of his home. The description that Jem gives Boo is an unrealistic depiction of any human, let alone a person whom Jem has never met. Jem also hears Mrs. Maudie talk about how “Boo was locked in the courthouse basement” (Lee 11) then went home and was never seen since. After gathering this information, Jem is convinced that Boo is locked inside his house because he is a threat to others and needs to be locked up. Jem does not realize this statement about Boo is not true until he begins to see the world how Boo sees it. Jem is having a conversation with Scout when he questions, “…why do they(society) go out of their way to despise each other” (Lee 227). Here Jem has a coming of age moment, he starts seeing that on the outside of Boos 4 walls the world is an evil place. He then continues and says, “…I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up…it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 227). This conversation is where Jem starts to truly understand Boo. He sees that Boo is not an evil man who must be tamed, instead, he stays inside to avoid the madness. If Jem would’ve never seen the world through Boo’s eyes, he would have never understood the real reason why Boo stays inside. In conclusion, the reader sees that when one stops looking at the world through his or her eyes and sees the world through a mind more of someone else’s caliber, he or she can know and understand that person and their