Draft - 2

Last Name 2

Student Name

Professor Proctor

ENG 102

12 September 2020

Compassion Deriving from Guilt

In the film, Lady Bird, directed by Greta Gerwig, the audience follows a coming of age story of the main character Christine or, “Lady Bird.” This movie portrays Lady Bird’s relationships throughout her senior year of high school and does not steer away from the ill-favored parts of life. The film clearly portrays Lady Bird’s self-centered empathic tendencies. There are many instances where events do not go Lady Bird’s way. These events affect Lady Bird’s relationships with the people in her life. They take her away from true friendships and lead her towards non-genuine relationships. These newfound relationships are not exactly what Lady Bird hopes for. This disappointment causes her to feel guilty about being selfish, but only because her new relationships fail. Guilt is what drives Lady Bird to feel empathic and show compassion towards others, reflecting how people act in the real world: guilt often is the driving force for compassion towards others.

Lady Bird only shows compassion towards her ex-boyfriend Danny because she feels guilty for being mad at him for something he can’t change. When Lady Bird finds Danny kissing a boy in the bathroom, she is furious. She is shocked and most likely feels betrayed by her boyfriend. They seemed very close to Lady Bird, so she does not expect this outcome for the relationship. Once Danny actually talks to Lady Bird in person, she seems to “come to her senses” in a way. She realizes that there was no point in being angry because Danny can’t change the fact that he is gay. She shows Danny compassion, but only when he begins to cry, revealing he is scared about his family and friends learning his secret, and how that might affect his life. Lady Bird feels guilt because she realizes that she doesn’t need to be the victim in this situation. Danny is the one who should be angry and confused because he can’t even be his true self around his loved ones. This connects to many real world instances. Most people in relationships feel guilt when they do something to hurt their significant other. Many times after a break up, the person who initiates the separation tries to comfort the other person because of the guilt they feel for causing them pain. The partner would not have shown empathy if their loved one hadn’t shown grief in the first place. Guilt is what drives people to show such consideration towards others.