Exploration of Relevant Texts
Harper Lee’s masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the story of a young girl, Scout Finch, being raised in Depression-era Alabama by her widower father, Atticus. As Scout and her older brother, Jem, age over the course of the three years the novel spans, they learn a great deal about courage and kindness. The central event of the text is Atticus’ appointment to defend Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, in court. As many of their white neighbors turn on Atticus for his loyalty to Tom, Atticus teaches the children about both the commonalities which exist between all people and the cowardly roots of bigotry. Atticus’ teachings are perhaps summarized by his advice to Scout in dealing with a new teacher: “"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," (Lee, 1960, p. 30). In order to fully comprehend this advice—which in some ways embodies the definition of empathy—let us consider both our understanding of that definition as well as other texts which provide working definitions of empathy. As we consider other texts’ prescriptions for empathy, let us analyze whether empathy is described merely as an emotion, or if it is also depicted as a catalyst to necessary action.
The Atlantic article, “A Short History of Empathy,” discusses the etymological heritage of the word itself. “Empathy,” according to this article, has only been in the prevalent parlance for the past century (Lanzoni, 2015, para 4). Lanzoni discusses the two competing hypothesized etymologies as well as their effects on the word’s modern usage. For example, in the early 1900s, to have empathy did not mean to experience another’s emotions, but to project one’s own emotions onto an object. This form of empathy is reminiscent of real-life anthropomorphism. The distinction between empathy and projection which we observe today did not emerge until approximately half a century later. Modern research analyzing the presence of empathy in a variety of fields indicates that “wealth disparities weaken empathic response and that reading fiction can improve it” (Lanzoni, 2015, para 8). Citing social psychologist C. Daniel Batson, the article lists eight definitions of empathy: “knowing another’s thoughts and feelings; imagining another’s thoughts and feelings; adopting the posture of another; actually feeling as another does; imagining how one would feel or think in another’s place; feeling distress at another’s suffering; feeling for another’s suffering, sometimes called pity or compassion; and projecting oneself into another’s situation,” (Lanzoni, 2015, para 9). These definitions will be a jumping-off-point for students to consider their own interpretations of empathy.
In keeping with our discussion of how to establish a working definition of empathy which can support a common understanding among all learners, Gallingane and Han’s research seeks to understand how to introduce the vocabulary necessary to the exploration of empathy. The study suggests how emotional literacy can be used within the classroom to further content-specific goals. Horton’s research focuses on how young adult historical fiction can be taught in order to best inspire empathy. The purpose of the development of empathy in this context is that students ultimately explore their social responsibilities. Though Horton’s study took place in Canada and therefore utilized texts about relevant historical events, the concept of using “historical empathy” to empower present action is in keeping with the purpose of my unit (35).
While Horton utilized historical concepts relevant to his students’ social studies curriculum, there are plenty of parallel texts which could draw upon American students’ prior historical knowledge. For example, “In Event of Moon Disaster” is a primary source document written by Bill Safire on July 18, 1969. The document, which contains both a speech for President Nixon as well as directions for what to do before and after the speech, is a mere page and a half. “In Event of Moon Disaster” was a contingency plan were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to have been stranded on the lunar surface. The first item of the memo is the President’s moving, humanity-focused speech which concludes: “For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind,” (Safire, 1969, para 8). Though deeply saddening, this document is an expression of what connects humankind—the emotions and loyalties which cannot be severed even by hundreds of thousands of miles.
Having addressed the need to offer students a historical perspective, we must now also recognize how critical it is that learners be given opportunities to apply their studies to modern issues. It would be irresponsible to explore either To Kill a Mockingbird or the theme of empathy without giving students a forum to discuss contemporary racial tensions. I have not yet found a written text that serves as a primary source document rather than an editorial on the subject, but I am eager to include this topic in our conversation about empathy. Not only is the Black Lives Matter movement incredibly important as a current event, it also allows students to see many of the themes of the original novel played out on the modern world stage. The Black Lives Matter movement also encourages us as a class to examine the obligations of empathy: what actions does an empathetic person take in the face of cruelty?
One academic source which calls upon us to recognize the active component of empathy is research done by Strathman. Inspired by a recent finding that indicates a decline in empathy amongst college students, Strathman explores what potential blend of academic support and community engagement might best increase students’ sense of empathy. While Strathman offers an overtly religious perspective on the subject, the question of whether empathy is best explored through discussion or action is worthy of consideration.
As we examine the importance of feeling another’s subjection as an infringement upon all liberties, we can turn to Joy Harjo’s short poem, “This Morning I Pray for My Enemies,” which emphasizes the tenuous distinctions present in interpersonal relationships: “The door to the mind should only open from the heart./ An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend,” (Harjo, 2015, line 8-9). In keeping with the majority of the texts addressed in this essay, “This Morning I Pray for My Enemies” implies that physical boundaries between individuals can be overcome by mutual understanding of the other. This poem is somewhat unique amongst the other texts in that it suggests a different directionality of causality than the others. Many of the texts recommend adopting the perspective of the other in order to understand them and thereby be aligned with them through newfound empathy. In contrast, “This Morning I Pray for My Enemies” suggests that the adoption of another’s perspective might be inescapable—even purportedly adversarial relationships can evolve into substantive connective bonds.
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech is the tale of a young girl travelling across the country with her grandparents in order to see her mother. On their journey, the girl, named Sal, tells her grandparents a story about a friend which Sal gradually realizes parallels her own narrative. Atticus tells Scout that to understand another person you need to “climb into his skin and walk around in it,” (Lee, 1960, p. 30). Walk Two Moons provides a similar moral: “Don’t judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins,” (Creech, 1994, p. 51). Each of these texts emphasizes empathy as the adoption of the other as the self. In this way, each novel is premised on similar ideas of what it means to be empathetic. I would love to have these two quotes analyzed in context by students to determine whether subtle distinctions between the two—such as Creech’s reference to a necessary time period of embodying the other—constitute a substantive difference in how to enact empathy.
Along similar lines as both To Kill a Mockingbird and Walk Two Moons, Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” describes empathy as the adoption of a foreign perspective as if it were your own: “I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person,” (Whitman, 1855, line 67). This quotation represents the next step in asking students to analyze the working definition of empathy. Whitman’s words—when read in contrast with Lee’s and Creech’s—encourage students to consider the circumstances of enacting empathy: is empathy reserved people who are wounded physically, mentally, or emotionally? Do we have greater obligation to be empathetic to those who are struggling? If so, does that obligation suggest that we need to forfeit some of our own comfort to “become the wounded person”? (Whitman, 1855, line 67).
In the short story “For Esmé—with Love and Squalor” by J.D. Salinger, the reader observes the narrator’s mental deterioration over the course of two separate episodes. In the first, the Sergeant meets a precocious young girl one day by chance. She, the titular Esmé, is an orphan who wears her father’s old wristwatch in honor of him. One of Esmé’s concerns is becoming a more compassionate person. In the second episode, as the Sergeant is struggling mentally, he opens a package from the now-married Esmé which contains her father’s watch. Esmé instructs the Sergeant to wear the watch for the remainder of his tour of duty, resulting in the narrator’s mental and emotional recuperation. While this story addresses empathy only tangentially, it demonstrates what many of the other texts express. The symbolic use of the wristwatch offers students the opportunity to interpret the text’s working definition of empathy. Students might benefit from addressing this story later in the unit so that they may utilize the explicit definitions of empathy offered by To Kill a Mockingbird, Walk Two Moons, and “Song of Myself” as reference.
“Little Miracles, Kept Promises” by Sandra Cisneros is comprised of twenty-four notes written by devotees appealing to saints for help in their daily lives or thanking them for help already granted. The writers’ concerns range from a face clear of acne to obtaining $253.72 to surviving kidney cancer. This story shows its characters in their greatest moment of vulnerability. Each character’s story is intertwined with others: “Grandma y Grandfather” pray for their grandson, Deborah Abrego prays that she and Ralph S. Urrea will always stay together, Rubén Ledesma’s mother’s friend Demetria recommended he pray to this specific saint. Readers are challenged not only to understand the relationship between the characters and the saints they pray to, but also the characters’ relationships to other peripheral characters. How do we see external and internal realities at play in each character’s narrative? When and how do the characters treat one another with empathy and which vignettes inspire empathy in us as readers?
The novel Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the story of young clones raised in an institution in the British countryside before being forced to donate their organs until they reach their darkly euphemistic “completion,” is expertly told in such a way that the reader slowly becomes aware of the realities of the world in which they are immersed. One of the central conflicts of the novel is the clones’ desire to see their counterparts—a desire which never comes to fruition. The deeply moving narrative, in which naturally born humans are willfully blind to the atrocities the main characters suffer through, offers students an opportunity to witness the consequences of lacking empathy in society. Even though the clones and their counterparts are walking around in one another’s physical skins, as Lee might put it, their emotional abstraction prevents compassion in this dystopia.
Almerico’s “Building Character Through Literacy with Children’s Literature” delineates texts appropriate for the development of character education by the desired traits—caring, compassion, kindness, and empathy. Though Almerico’s research focuses on younger readers than my target audience, her criteria for text selection are a useful reminder of potential resources for collecting ancillary texts. Further, Bouley and Godfrey’s research suggests that the use of children’s literature in college classrooms supported discussions in which students were challenged to analyze their own beliefs and consider those of others. Having encouraged their students to read these low-level texts aloud, researchers found their participants were receptive to a frank discussion of the contents. Given that this approach was successful at the university level it is possible that it would achieve similar results in high school. However, there is always the possibility that adolescents might bristle at the project more than their older counterparts would, for fear of not being first recognized as adults.
By using these texts in concert with one another, we offer students the opportunity to decipher subtle differences in the working definition of empathy. Not only does this exercise encourage thoughtful analysis, but it also demonstrates that not all great minds share the same thoughts. While this may not be a revelation for some learners, for others it may prove that they have as much right to define empathy based on their own experience of it as anyone else.