Respuesta :
In the book "Just Mercy", Bryan Stevenson uses this passage to establish a sense of familiarity and connection with the people he describes. By saying that the person "looked immediately familiar to me, like everyone I'd grown up with," Stevenson is emphasizing that the individuals he will discuss in the book are not distant or different, but rather people we might interact with in our daily lives.
This serves two purposes:
1. **Humanization**: It humanizes the people he will discuss, many of whom are prisoners on death row. This is a group that society often dehumanizes and distances itself from. By making them familiar, Stevenson is subtly urging the reader to see these individuals as human beings, not just as their crimes or their punishments.
2. **Empathy**: It sets the stage for the reader to approach the book's subjects with empathy. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. By presenting these individuals as familiar and similar to people we know, Stevenson is encouraging the reader to empathize with them.
In relation to your unit topic, this could be a powerful way to illustrate the importance of empathy. It suggests that empathy is not just about understanding others, but also about recognizing our shared humanity. This is particularly relevant when discussing issues of justice and mercy, as it challenges us to consider how we would want to be treated if we were in the same situation. It's a call to extend empathy to all people, even those who might be very different from us or who might have made serious mistakes. This is a central theme in "Just Mercy".
