The Pulitzer Prize novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, tells the story of a young girl named Scout Finch and her brother Jem. It takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb Alabama in the late 1930s. They all, including their visiting friend Dill, get intrigued by getting a glimpse of their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. They walk past his house daily and got different treats from him, but never saw what he looked like. Their father, who is an attorney named Atticus, defends a black man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Meanwhile, Aunt Alexandra arrives to teach Scout some traits of a good woman. When the trial comes the kids go inside to watch. It becomes obvious that Mayella Ewell is Lying, but the court still convicts Tom despite the evidence not pointing to him. Most whites in the town end up unhappy that Atticus accuses Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, of lying. After the trial, Tom gets shot dead 17 times in an attempt of escaping prison. Jem and Scout notice that Atticus is being threatened by Bob and they get attacked, but their mysterious neighbor comes to save them accidentally killing Bob in the act. Jem breaks her arm and they both suffer other minor injuries. As they go home scout meets Boo Radley for the and stands where the window is where he looked out them every day. She then thinks about all of this from Boo’s perspective and goes home to her father who reads to her goodnight. Harper Lee gives each character distinct traits that make them unique. Jem is shown to become empathetic and he is curious, which are traits that mirror my own. Burris Ewell is a character who, unlike me, has bad hygiene, but can be understood because that was the way he was taught. In the book to kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee gave distinct traits to characters that I was able to identify with.
Harper Lee's Writing characterizes Jem as someone who starts as a kid and grows into a young man and develops traits throughout the book such as empathy. At the beginning of the book, Jem wants to strike a match under a turtle, but according to Dill, “striking a match under a turtle was hateful”. Jem questions how he knew the turtle could not feel, but Dill says, “Were you ever a turtle”. Dill’s empathy showed Jem that you should put yourself into other shoes and not just think of someone from the outside. As Jem continues to grow up, he begins to use more empathy. Soon after the turtle incident, Jem's sister Scout got into a fight with Walter Cunningham Jr, a poor boy, and Jem breaks up the fight and invites Walter to come to eat dinner with me them. Most kids avoid Walter but Jem learned from Dill used empathy and understands his place in life and tries to make him happy. At the beginning of chapter 25, Scout finds a roly-poly and begins to poke and irritate it. She felt sleepy and tried to smash it when Jem comes and refuse to smash the bug. She asked, “Why couldn’t I mash him” and seemed confused, but Jem says, “Because they don’t bother you”. Jem uses empathy and compassion by refusing to let Scout smash roly-poly. As Jem grows up he gets more of an understanding that those will disadvantaged should not be mistreated.
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I see myself as Jem because he is one who grew into empathy. When I was around the age of nine I was not that empathetic in my actions. I would smash every bug I see, and I would not put myself in other people’s shoes and think about their situation. As I grew up similar to Jem I gained an understanding of how I could understand situations from other people's point of view. The day I noticed a change in my empathy was when I caught a lizard. I was so excited, so I put it in a cage. The next morning before I went to school I was about to release and when I picked it up the tail fell off! I felt so guilty and though I killed the innocent lizard, soon I found out that this was a natural defense for lizards and they will just grow back another one. This was the first time I could remember I had true empathy for something. Similar to Jem I learned from this and used empathy more often in my life. I continued to use empathy on my family trip to Canada. When I visited my relatives in Canada, we walk around downtown Toronto. As we strolled along the sidewalk I saw a homeless man sitting on the side of the street. I put myself in his shoes and imagined all the trouble he was going through. As I went home and entered my bed I was deeply saddened by the way some people are living in this world. I wanted to help so badly, so I went to the same spot the next day and gave him a donation. This made me feel good, but I was still thinking of all the others in this world living in those conditions. Just like Jem, I used empathy toward others and imagined what their life was like.
Harper Lee’s writing characterizes Burris Ewell, Son of Bob Ewell, as someone who has a paucity of hygiene. When Burris is introduced in Chapter 3, he comes to school because the law requires it and his teacher advocates him to, “bathe yourself before you come back tomorrow”. Burris lacks basic details of hygiene and was described with, “rusty” hands and his, “fingernails were black deep into the quick”. Burris rudely being insulted says back to Miss Caroline, “You ain’t sendin’’ me home, missus”. Burris’ family has been a “disgrace of Maycomb for three generations”. His family is poor, his mother is dead, and his father is abusive. Though Burris might not be the most well-rounded person, he can be understood because his Dad is abusive, and he has probably not taught him the finer details of hygiene. He simply doesn’t know how to bathe himself which is why he is asked by many people. Burris’ behavior and cleanliness are a reflection of how he was raised and nurtured by his Dad. Burris lacks minor opportunities that make a big impact on his character and personality.
I see myself contrasting with Burris because Burris lacks a good sense of hygiene. I am not very particular about my hygiene, but I do have a good sense of it i.e., washing my hands. Some of the more simple aspects of hygiene I have, and Burris lacks. I can access a clean shower, I have clean clothes, and I have access to a doctor that keeps the “cooties” out. Burris lacks good hygiene because of his lack of opportunity, and I have good hygiene because I have more opportunities. Though Burris and I have differences in our traits, he teaches me that we are different because of how we were raised. While Burris was raised by an abusive father, I am raised by kind and loving parents. He wasn’t taught the minor aspect of good sanitation, so he therefore lacks it. Burris makes me look at some unnoticed things I don’t really understand how lucky I am to have. He also makes me look at something I have been taught that don’t take for granted. Burris Ewell and I are different in our hygienic manner in the sense that we are given different opportunities.
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