Catching Feelings Humans are arguably some of the most complex organisms on Earth. The human body is made up of approximately 650 muscles, 206 bones, and most importantly one brain made up of billions of neurons with the ability to comprehend the emotions of others and build empathy. The power of empathy is stronger than any other power a human can have. Empathy has a heavy impact on characters in The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, as well as The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. All of the characters in these books are heavily affected by empathy at some point in the text. The big idea of empathy has the largest impact on building a character’s…show more content… Esperanza is able to realize this through the empathy her uncle shows her. She feels ashamed when she does not have fancy shoes like those around her and decides to sit out from the fun. Her uncle tells her “you are the prettiest girl here, will you dance?”(Cisneros 47), knowing that she would have otherwise sat out. Understanding that Esperanza feels upset and embarrassed, he shows her empathy so that she will enjoy herself. Before she was shown empathy, Esperanza was not taking the opportunity to enjoy herself because she became too concerned in insignificant details. After her uncle was empathetic, the situation was entirely flipped. This showed Esperanza that when life is negative, she has the power to change a situation for herself or another person. It had a lasting impact on her because it showed her the power that she has because of empathy. Esperanza became empowered knowing that she could determine how a situation affects her which changed her as an individual. Similarly, Rex showed Jeannette empathy by giving her Venus for Christmas. He said to her “‘years from now, when all the junk [other children] got is broken and long forgotten… you’ll still have your stars’”(Walls 41). When Rex could not afford to give Jeannette the “junk” that other kids get, he takes it as an opportunity to give her something that will leave a bigger impact. Rex knows that Jeannette might be upset that she is one of very few people in her life that does not get gifts on Christmas so, he acts upon these feelings by showing empathy. He considers her feelings and comes up with a gift that he believes she would not forget. The stars/planet is not what is truly important about this gift, it is the compassion behind the gift that he wants Jeannette to remember. Because of this gift, Jeannette was shown that there is always good in the
