Eliza
Monday, May 2, 2011
Empathy
Throughout the book empathy is shown many times. In the last couple chapters, Jem and Scout seem to have grown up a little, and shown empathy. Aunt Alexandra had told Scout to come in when they were having refreshments, but Scout knows that if she gets her dress dirty Cal will have to wash it on top of her tea-related chores, so she decides the kitchen is safer. This shows empathy because scout was thinking about Cal and her work instead of being social. Another time scout is about to squish a bug when Jem stops her. He showed empathy towards the bug. The children are starting to put themselves in others shoes and i think this happened because of the court case.
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I agree with Eliza that Scout and Jem are growing older and wiser, but I don't necessarily think that in this town, with age comes wisdom. One has no prejudice until influenced or taught that, which is why the children in this book see straight through the color of a person’s skin. On the other hand, white adults in this town have developed a sense of superiority to the blacks. Scout is an innocent narrator because she does not understand why anyone would base their thoughts on a person’s skin color.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of chapter 21, Scout and Jem were so confident that the jury would decide that Tom Robinson was innocent. Jem sad, "But don't fret, we've won it. Don't see how any jury could convict on what we heard-" This quote shows how Jem (and Scout) don't understand the racism that these adults base their verdicts on, because it just seems wrong to them. When the judge revealed that Tom Robinson was voted guilty, Jem and Scout were extremely surprised and were definitely wondering how a jury could convict this obviously innocent man because they are still children and do not understand the prejudice that adults have towards blacks.
-Natasha
I agree with Natasha and Eliza. I think that the rate of a child's ability to empathize towards another is directly affected to her or her surroundings. This does not apply to everyone. Atticus, for example, grew up in a slave owning family, but he is a strong will character and knows what he think is right and he advocated for it. Maybe that is partly why he became a lawyer. On the other hand, what would Bob Ewell be like if he had grown up in an empathizing family, maybe he would be more considerate towards other races and not colossal dullard. Empathy can also go either way in the coming of age. This is because you start to from opinions about things, based on your moral values or the values you have grown accustomed to. Maybe if Bob Ewell grew up in an empathetic family he would still be a colossal dullard, but that would not but until he was old enough to form his own opinions about certain matters. I believe that the coming of age directly affects a persons ability to show empathy towards another, wheather in a negative way or positive.
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