Empathy, a most basic human quality, but how many can define it. Empathy according to the Oxford Canadian dictionary empathy is the power of identifying oneself mentally with (and so fully comprehending) a person or object of contemplation, but what does this mean? In simpler terms empathy is the ability to share the thoughts and feelings of another being or object. So if that's the definition where can we find examples of this trait that has long been forgotten by society? In Harper Lee’s award winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird, a tale about friendship, loyalty, loss, and perhaps most importantly a story about empathy. Mr. Atticus Finch one of the main characters in the novel is one of the best examples of empathy, as it is thickly entwined
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The Finch’s were extremely lucky, whether they knew it or not, Atticus’s job as a lawyer provided him with employment, arguing with the banks about foreclosing farms, on top of the day to day legal squabbles that break out. Most of the farms were repossessed during this era because payments couldn’t be made because crops couldn't be grown and more than that they couldn't be sold. So Atticus was never unoccupied, but perhaps the most astounding of these legal bouts was that of the Cunninghams. A proud family descended down from the days of cotton dynasties working thousands of laborers and maids. When they were rocked by the Great Depression they came to Atticus to save their farm from foreclosure, and with the lack of money, especially for farmers, they paid him with whatever they could, including but not limited to: one sack of hickory nuts, one crate of smilax and holly, and one crate of turnip greens. This demonstrates Atticus's empathy extremely well because he knows what they are going through, and he knows better than to ask for anything, but instead knows he will be paid in whatever is available when they can afford it, which is a valuable lesson for his children to learn that I think many could benefit from even
The Finch’s were extremely lucky, whether they knew it or not, Atticus’s job as a lawyer provided him with employment, arguing with the banks about foreclosing farms, on top of the day to day legal squabbles that break out. Most of the farms were repossessed during this era because payments couldn’t be made because crops couldn't be grown and more than that they couldn't be sold. So Atticus was never unoccupied, but perhaps the most astounding of these legal bouts was that of the Cunninghams. A proud family descended down from the days of cotton dynasties working thousands of laborers and maids. When they were rocked by the Great Depression they came to Atticus to save their farm from foreclosure, and with the lack of money, especially for farmers, they paid him with whatever they could, including but not limited to: one sack of hickory nuts, one crate of smilax and holly, and one crate of turnip greens. This demonstrates Atticus's empathy extremely well because he knows what they are going through, and he knows better than to ask for anything, but instead knows he will be paid in whatever is available when they can afford it, which is a valuable lesson for his children to learn that I think many could benefit from even