“You never really understand a person point of view until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around it” (30) said Atticus giving Scout the most important advice that governs her development throughout the rest of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee which takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Scout Finch, the protagonist is a young whose father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer that defends a black man in the name of Tom Robinson. Scout’s brother, Jem Finch and their best friend Dill, soon realises a different side of their town they never seen before. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the readers get a glimpse of one of the main theme, empathy, from Jem, Scout and Atticus.
Early on in the book, Jem already demonstrate empathy. In the beginning of Chapter 3, Scout gets into a fight with Walter Cunningham Jr. Because she feels he got her in trouble in school. Jem comes in and stops the fight and says “Come on home to dinner with us, Walter” (30). Some children may not associate or know Water’s feelings because he is poor, but Jem understands how this must make Walter feel, so he becomes friendly towards him and treats him as an equal.
At the beginning of Chapter 22, Jem gets really upset after Atticus lost the trial. He even became emotionally invested during the trial so his sadness is also the result of his anger because of the injustice Tom Robinson received and the empathy he grew for him as Scout stated “His face was streaked with angry tears, / “It ain’t right,” he muttered.” (286)
