Brene Brown once said,“Empathy is simply listening, holding space; withholding judgement, emotionally connecting, and communicating that incredibly healing message of ‘You’re not alone.’” When someone withholds judgement and emotionally connects with someone the person defies the odds and does not make prejudices and intolerances, despite of another person’s differences. This is shown throughout the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the book the reader experiences life in southern Alabama in the 1930’s through the point of view of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. The story takes turns that lead you from Jem, Scout’s brother, literally losing his pants, to a run in with a widowed, morphine addict named Mrs. Dubose, to Scout’s Aunt Alexandra
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She shows us this by walking in someone else’s shoes. Ever since the incident with his pants, Jem has been acting odd. Scout shows her empathy towards him by being tolerant to him and the situation. In the book Scout narrates, “As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it” (Lee 57). Scout demonstrates her empathy by caring for Jem which is difficult for people of all ages, including many in Maycomb. She is able to look at the situation from the point of view of another person, due to the power of her empathy. Her empathy is allowing her to look past the prejudices and intolerance and pushes her to be tolerant of the situation. Using this tactic, Scout is able to understand a person that is different from her. In the article “The Enduring Legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird: Universal Value”, Wayne Flynt states, “One of the most important themes of the novel for our time is tolerance for people unlike ourselves” (Flynt 12). What this means is that being tolerant of others and having the empathy to do so, is a major role in the novel and in the world today. Empathy is important because, Scout uses empathy to be tolerant, which according to Mr. Flynt is a very important aspect of the novel and of today’s time. Tolerance is vital to people who are attempting to apply their empathy, people will be more tolerant …show more content…
They all show some aspect of tolerance or in one case of prejudice and how empathy, or lack thereof, plays a key role in how those characteristics develop. Empathy allows people to develop tolerance and when people do not possess empathy bad events occur. Retaining empathy does indeed keep people from having prejudices and
She shows us this by walking in someone else’s shoes. Ever since the incident with his pants, Jem has been acting odd. Scout shows her empathy towards him by being tolerant to him and the situation. In the book Scout narrates, “As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it” (Lee 57). Scout demonstrates her empathy by caring for Jem which is difficult for people of all ages, including many in Maycomb. She is able to look at the situation from the point of view of another person, due to the power of her empathy. Her empathy is allowing her to look past the prejudices and intolerance and pushes her to be tolerant of the situation. Using this tactic, Scout is able to understand a person that is different from her. In the article “The Enduring Legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird: Universal Value”, Wayne Flynt states, “One of the most important themes of the novel for our time is tolerance for people unlike ourselves” (Flynt 12). What this means is that being tolerant of others and having the empathy to do so, is a major role in the novel and in the world today. Empathy is important because, Scout uses empathy to be tolerant, which according to Mr. Flynt is a very important aspect of the novel and of today’s time. Tolerance is vital to people who are attempting to apply their empathy, people will be more tolerant …show more content…
They all show some aspect of tolerance or in one case of prejudice and how empathy, or lack thereof, plays a key role in how those characteristics develop. Empathy allows people to develop tolerance and when people do not possess empathy bad events occur. Retaining empathy does indeed keep people from having prejudices and