To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a book about a young girl named Scout and the experiences she encounters in her little town in Alabama. This book talks a lot about the conflicts she has with other people, these conflicts range from having a one-sided discussion with a teacher to a night of unrivaled fury by a man attacking Scout and her brother. However the story does not just show hate for these antagonists, but rather something more. The narrator describes the antagonists as more dynamic, and it is as if trying to create a bond not only with the main characters, but the opposing characters as well. Pity is defined as “a strong feeling of sadness or sympathy for someone or something” (Webster’s Dictionary). The main way the author
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When Scout first saw Mayella, she was very surprised to the action taken to Atticus and how the discussion between them went, and eventually saw how Mayella was treated normally. This quote shows what Mayella said at the trial when Atticus asked if she loved her father “[Mayella] ‘He’s tolerable ’cept when-’ [Atticus] ‘Except when?’ Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up and waited for her to answer. ‘Except when nothing,’ Said Mayella. ‘I said he does tolerable.’ ‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded” (Lee 186). This shows that Mayella is subject to abuse from her drunk father on many occasions, this part of the book proves that even though Mayella is an antagonist because she is trying to wrongfully convict Tom Robinson she is still sympathized with and not made out to be a horrible person whose soul initiative is to bring harm to Tom, but rather that she is attempting to spare herself from her father by testifying against Tom. This creates a feeling of sorrow around Mayella and her life situation, with many other siblings and a drunk for a father that does not take care of any of them. This quote describes how the author uses pity to help the reader sympathize with the antagonist of the
When Scout first saw Mayella, she was very surprised to the action taken to Atticus and how the discussion between them went, and eventually saw how Mayella was treated normally. This quote shows what Mayella said at the trial when Atticus asked if she loved her father “[Mayella] ‘He’s tolerable ’cept when-’ [Atticus] ‘Except when?’ Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up and waited for her to answer. ‘Except when nothing,’ Said Mayella. ‘I said he does tolerable.’ ‘Except when he’s drinking?’ asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded” (Lee 186). This shows that Mayella is subject to abuse from her drunk father on many occasions, this part of the book proves that even though Mayella is an antagonist because she is trying to wrongfully convict Tom Robinson she is still sympathized with and not made out to be a horrible person whose soul initiative is to bring harm to Tom, but rather that she is attempting to spare herself from her father by testifying against Tom. This creates a feeling of sorrow around Mayella and her life situation, with many other siblings and a drunk for a father that does not take care of any of them. This quote describes how the author uses pity to help the reader sympathize with the antagonist of the