Empathy, the sharing of someone else's feelings, is very
evident in the novel's final chapter. Scout's empathy for Boo is both tender and
profound as she takes his arm as a lady would take the arm of a gentleman and walks him
home. Other examples of empathy are present, as well. Atticus is very aware of Scout's
emotions. He knows what she has experienced on this extraordinary evening--Bob Ewell's
attack, Ewell's death, and Boo's role in saving her and Jem's
lives.
Atticus demonstrates his empathy for Scout's
feelings. He hesitates to read her a "scary" book: "You've had enough scaring for a
while." When Scout insists, Atticus reads to her:
I willed myself to stay awake, but the rain was
so soft and the room was so warm and his voice was so deep and his knee was so snug that
I slept.
Atticus knows Scout
needs his comforting presence more than the story he reads to her. When Scout falls
asleep, Atticus carries her to her room and gently tucks her into bed for the night.
Before drifting off to sleep again, Scout tells her father that Boo was "real nice."
Atticus responds:
Most people are, Scout, when you finally see
them.
With these words,
Atticus expresses his empathetic view of other human beings--the ability "see" into
their hearts, to "stand in [their] shoes and walk around in
them."
Another significant example of empathy in the
chapter is Boo's empathy for Scout and Jem. In remembering seasons past from the vantage
point of the Radley porch, Scout says:
Winter, and his [Boo's] children shivered at the
front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house . . . Summer, and he watched his
children's heart break. Autumn again, and Boo's children needed
him.
Although he lived the
life of a recluse, Boo had observed Jem and Scout, "his children," and had empathized
with their feelings throughout their experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment