The world that we live in today contains countless people that are trying to accomplish their dreams and support their families. As a result of focussing heavily on self-improvement, we forget that there are others with problems of their own. We immediately resort to giving another person's worries “the cold shoulder” simply because they aren’t ours. The solution to this problem is simple. People need to learn the importance of being empathetic towards others.

Society has people in this cycle in which we would care about things that would bring us to gain or happiness. For instance, worrying about your next payday or how you're going to buy those expensive sneakers to show off to your friends. But in the midst of all these, I wonder. When was the last time you thought of the jobless and the poor? Or the hungry kids we see on those Unicef commercials? The disabled and elderly have to get constant care and attention in nursing homes or hospitals. I sincerely hope that a select few of us actually can make an attempt to care. Then there is the emotional aspect of this topic, broken marriages, children growing up in single-parent homes, and abusive relationships. The list of these burdens goes on and on but they are overshadowed by closed minds only focusing on success. 

               Next we move onto the rejection of others when they would need help the most. Whether it is because of their notability or their appearance. An example of this is found in Wonder in which Auggie who has an unusual appearance is then bullied and mocked repeatedly by others. There is even a game developed by the kids that single him out and made him untouchable, called the plague. However, ignoring this summer then stops Auggie's loneliness in school and then sits with him during lunch the rest of the story. The way he dealt with rejection during the story stood out to me the most. In the face of being verbally abused and ridiculed they stayed at ease and patient. He always gave people a second chance whenever they offended him . or said something rude. These things said so much about his character.

               Moving on to the topic of how Boo dealt with prejudice we see how he was scrutinized for just staying in the house. He was basically made a scapegoat in the story by being blamed for all the problems that happened in the town. But he then proves how he isn’t a bad person by saving  Jem and Scout after this, he then was viewed as a hero and no more a “Boogeyman”.

The way scout dealt with rejection was accepting Atticus’ reasoning of how to respect life, and to not be affected by cruelty. 

              Finally, the reason why intolerance and prejudice are easier to commit than respecting someone's problems is that people don’t feel as if they would have to connect with someone on a more personal level. If the problem doesn’t have anything to do with them in the first place. It’s also explained in this analogy: It’s easier to tear something down than to build it. Another reason may be that tolerance of certain things may not have been taught so that understanding of personal issues can be easier. The resolution to this is reassuring the person that everything is going to be okay, by relating it to your own experience.