In Harper Lee's novel of maturation, To Kill a
Mockingbird, the motif of empathy is introduced in the words of Atticus Finch
as he instructs his daughter Scout in the necessity of considering things from the point
of view of others in Chapter 3:
"First of all,...if you can learn a simple
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 his point of view---until you climb
into his skin and walk around in
it."
In Chapter 31, Scout
reiterates the words of her father as she stands upon the Radley
porch:
Atticus
was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his soes and
walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was
enough.
From this vantage
point, Scout senses what it has been like for Boo to have been the recluse he has;
imprisoned inside his home, Boo has had only this small vision of the world. Thus, his
contact with the children has been magnified in importance and his loss of the medium of
the knothole in the tree devastating. Scout feels ashamed that she and Jem and Dill
have made him the sport of their games as they have considered him a "malevolent
phantom." She now realizes the meaning of Miss Maudie's words that perhaps Boo chooses
to remain inside. Perhaps, the world is too much for the shy and sensitive man who has
been so misunderstood by his own family. Instead, he has vicariously experienced love
and joy by viewing the interaction of children with each other and with their
father.
Scout's understanding now that she is mature gives
her an empathy for Boo. But, earlier as a smaller child, Scout has not felt anything
for the "phantom"; her empathy for Boo then has been non-existent. For, empathy only
comes from maturity of the soul, a maturity that must be nurtured by those kind,
understanding men such as Atticus Finch.
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