“If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” These are Atticus Finch’s words of advice to his daughter. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, perspective is a recurring theme throughout the novel. Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed Scout, serves as the main character and as the narrator. Readers see her grow up as a young girl in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama in the nineteen-thirties, and follow her as she grows and matures. Throughout Scout’s maturation, she is affected greatly by lessons of empathy that are brought to her from the situations that
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She shows that she does not have empathy for Walter when he comes over to her house for lunch on the first day of school. Scout says, “Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He probably would have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked him what in the sam hill he was doing” (32). Scout does not attempt to see the situation from Walter’s point of view. She shows him no empathy, and Calpurnia calls her into the kitchen for it. Calpurnia tells her, “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us, but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the tablecloth you let him, you hear?” (32). Calpurnia is trying to teach her to understand the situation from Walter’s perspective and shows empathy for him as a result. Later in the book, Scout shows that she understands Cal’s lesson by telling her brother, “That Walter’s as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes because he has to stay out and help his daddy. Nothing's wrong with him” (304). She shows that she now has empathy for Walter and she is willing to stand up for him against her brother. Scout has once again proved that she is now able to understand a situation from multiple perspectives and find empathy, something she could not have done in the beginning of the …show more content…
When Scout approaches her brother and her friend, she recalls, “Jem said placidly, ‘We are going to give a note to Boo Radley,’ ‘Just how?’ I was trying to fight down the automatic terror rising in me” (62). Scout feels the terror because she believes the the gossip and superstition she has heard, but fails to question it and attempt to look at the situation from his perspective. This renders her to unable to practice empathy. When Atticus catches them, he attempts to make them see Boo Radley’s perspective by “climbing into his skin and walking around in it.” Scout recalls Atticus explaining, “How would we like it if Atticus barged in on us without knocking, when we were in our rooms at night? We were in effect, doing the same thing to Mr. Radley. What Mr. Radley did might seem peculiar to us, but it did not seem peculiar to him” (65). She learns to consider the other person's point of view from this lesson and is able to understand Boo’s perspective later in the book. When Boo saves Scout and her brother from an attacker, he carries her brother back to their house. Eventually, they go out onto the porch to talk about how they should handle the situation. On their way out, Scout says, “Feeling slightly unreal, I lead him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark” (364). This shows
She shows that she does not have empathy for Walter when he comes over to her house for lunch on the first day of school. Scout says, “Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He probably would have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked him what in the sam hill he was doing” (32). Scout does not attempt to see the situation from Walter’s point of view. She shows him no empathy, and Calpurnia calls her into the kitchen for it. Calpurnia tells her, “There’s some folks who don’t eat like us, but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t. That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the tablecloth you let him, you hear?” (32). Calpurnia is trying to teach her to understand the situation from Walter’s perspective and shows empathy for him as a result. Later in the book, Scout shows that she understands Cal’s lesson by telling her brother, “That Walter’s as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes because he has to stay out and help his daddy. Nothing's wrong with him” (304). She shows that she now has empathy for Walter and she is willing to stand up for him against her brother. Scout has once again proved that she is now able to understand a situation from multiple perspectives and find empathy, something she could not have done in the beginning of the …show more content…
When Scout approaches her brother and her friend, she recalls, “Jem said placidly, ‘We are going to give a note to Boo Radley,’ ‘Just how?’ I was trying to fight down the automatic terror rising in me” (62). Scout feels the terror because she believes the the gossip and superstition she has heard, but fails to question it and attempt to look at the situation from his perspective. This renders her to unable to practice empathy. When Atticus catches them, he attempts to make them see Boo Radley’s perspective by “climbing into his skin and walking around in it.” Scout recalls Atticus explaining, “How would we like it if Atticus barged in on us without knocking, when we were in our rooms at night? We were in effect, doing the same thing to Mr. Radley. What Mr. Radley did might seem peculiar to us, but it did not seem peculiar to him” (65). She learns to consider the other person's point of view from this lesson and is able to understand Boo’s perspective later in the book. When Boo saves Scout and her brother from an attacker, he carries her brother back to their house. Eventually, they go out onto the porch to talk about how they should handle the situation. On their way out, Scout says, “Feeling slightly unreal, I lead him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark” (364). This shows