Themes in to kill a mockingbird empathy trial#
Themes in to kill a mockingbird empathy windows#

This is particularly important in the context of the 1930s, because it was rare for white people to empathise with black people. The statement To Kill a Mockingbirdteaches us about courage, and more importantly, empathy aptly describes some of the main themes and is correct in saying that empathy is more important than courage. Their father, a lawyer, is called to defend him. Their town is overturned when a Negro is charged with the rape of a white girl. The novel is about Jem and Scout Finch and their childhood in the south of America. Tarrytown, NY, USA: Marshall Cavendish.To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee teaches us about courage and empathy through events, characters and their actions. Great American Writers: Twentieth Century. African-Americans are not any farther along, but there is some recognition of their worth as people (Shuman, 2002, p.

The Finch children are wiser, and perhaps sadder, but alive to tell the tale and change the world for the better. Tom Robinson is avenged, although that does not help his wife or children.

The adults around Boo agree to ignore Boo’s role in the killing of Bob Ewell, and allow him to return to his secluded life undisturbed. Thus, there is a sort of justice carried out finally.

Themes in to kill a mockingbird empathy windows#

Radley has lived his life behind closed doors and shuttered windows because of his mysterious past behavior, but he has watched out for the Finch children, who are also harmless like the mockingbird. In this event, Bob Ewell, the destroyer of Tom Robinson, a harmless cripple, is destroyed by Boo Radley, also a cripple. The pace of things picks up here and it is during Scout’s awkward homeward walk inside her ham costume that she is attacked by Bob Ewell, and rescued, as we learn later, by the reclusive Boo Radley. Ewell’s hatred and desire for revenge are well-known. 379).Īll this putative peace is shattered when Atticus announces Tom Robinson’s deeply suspicious death during an alleged escape attempt. It offers her an opportunity to listen to the sometimes-poisonous gossip (Lee, 1960, p. This is the calm before the storm, however, with the missionary circle’s almost surreally disconnected tea party that Scout is drawn into to teach her to be a young lady. He also theorizes about Boo Radley’s motivations for staying shut up in his house (Lee, 1960, p. There is plenty of time for Atticus to explain the criminal justice system, and why no one “like us” shows up on juries, as Jem wonders (Lee, 1960, p. The summer passes with an uneasy sense of threat from Ewell (Lee, 1960, p. This unshaken conviction that Atticus has done his best is also supported by the gifts in kind which the African-American community leaves at the Finch home (Lee, 1960, p. This is evidenced by the way Scout and Jem are prodded to rise in respect, along with all the African-Americans in attendance in the balcony (Lee, 1960, p. Nonetheless, Atticus is recognized by the African-American community as having done a masterful job in defending Robinson.

Themes in to kill a mockingbird empathy trial#

The trial of Tom Robinson, which showcases the venal, mendacious, and violent tendencies of the Ewell family, especially Bob Ewell, is unsuccessful in vindicating Robinson. In the final section of the novel, these points come to a dramatic culmination.

She was admired by her fellow townsfolk for her writing and her bravery in articulating the poisonous atmosphere of racism (Life Magazine, 1961). There were mysterious and shuttered homes in her neighborhood, and doubtless racial tensions. Her father was a local lawyer, a lean and lanky man very well represented by Gregory Peck in the 1962 movie. Harper Lee grew up in a town very like the setting of the novel. She wants readers to think about how they treat others, whether of different race, or mental ability, or style of learning, or any other difference that does no harm to the rest of us, exactly like the harmless mockingbird. She clearly has seen, in her own life, the worst of racism, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, as well as the best of integrity and upright behavior in a variety of people. The writer images his own father and childhood friends in some characters Much of Harper Lee's childhood is reflected in To Kill a Mockingbird. The Need for a Human and Holistic Approach to Education,īob attacks the scout and Jem.