Atticus Finch's Childhood

As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray

1. The narrator of this novel is Jean Louise Finch, daughter of Atticus Finch, who is also addressed as Scout. Scout is a young 6 year old girl who lives in Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lee, author of “To Kill a Mockingbird” narrates this story in first person.

The best father in the world. They are helping, brave, kind, good, role models, and teach great lessons to their kids. In the real world male birds protect their children. They take care of them very well, they feed them, they protect them from danger, they teach their kids to fly, and do many more. No matter how big or small a great father takes care of their children at all cost. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch demonstrates characteristics of a great father.

Set during the early 1930s, in rural Alabama, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird covers too many deep and significant subjects to count–even today, though this work was published in 1960, many of these topics still pose as real issues in our world. Strung and sewn through each of these portrayals of injustice is Atticus Finch, the widowered father of Jem and Scout Finch, and a lawyer of the fictional Maycomb County. Atticus parents his children using non-disciplinary ways, an idea that irked many townsfolk, even bringing them to think of him as “much worse off without his wife”. Although the townspeople of Maycomb are made uncomfortable by the way Atticus’ parenting style, forbearing character, and liberal views challenge their way of life,

Imagine a place where the verdict of a rape trial stems from racial prejudice rather than the proper evaluation of proven evidence. This is Maycomb, Alabama, the strange, Southern town where Scout and Jem Finch grow up during the 1930s in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In short, the novel travels a thin line between a light-hearted narrative of the siblings’ childhood with their single father, a defense attorney named Atticus Finch, and the injustices that arise within their close-knit community. The complexities include extreme racism, a peculiar social hierarchy, and general misunderstandings of certain people within the small town. These are all seen as “Maycomb ways”, almost as if they are considered facts. Through her writing, Lee conveys an important message that an essential part of a child’s education often takes place in a home or community rather than a classroom by utilizing the characters, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape whom Atticus is defending.

Some of the most important people who influence or change society are willing to step outside the confines of their community and social values to express their individuality. For example, Jesus Christ, spiritual leader of Christianity and Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist, who were subject to hatred, rejection, ridicule, and risk their reputation and even their own lives. Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, demonstrates that being an individual is more important than being a member of a community. Lee’s presents this through Atticus Finch’s role as an agent of change, who fights the injustice against the black community in the deep south in the late 1930’s, and the character of Scout, Atticus’s daughter, who longs for freedom

Atticus Finch has always been a person that Scout has looked up to as well as learned many life lessons from him. One of the first things he teaches her is to broaden her perspective. He tells Scout that things may not make sense in your own perspective but make perfect sense from others, so he tells her to metaphorically walk in their shoes to understand them. Walter Cunning is a perfect example of this because from Scout’s perspective Walter was ruining his food with the syrup, when he was invited over for dinner. However, in Walter’s perspective, he was just making his food more filling because he doesn’t eat food at home often. During the trial of Tom Robinson, Atticus makes his case that his client, Tom Robinson, is innocent because of

Childhood is a very important stage in a person’s life because that is the time when they grow and learn important life lessons. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it shows how abuse can affect a person and their chance of success. It is impossible for a person to have a productive life if they are beaten and neglected during childhood.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows effective parenting of Jem and Jean-Louise Finch by Atticus Finch. One reason Atticus Finch is such an effective parent is because he does not hide the reality of the world from his children. During Tom Robinson’s trial, Jem and Jean-Louise sneak into the trial.

In many circumstances, people show different ways of reacting to a problem. People react with anger, or revenge. Yet some react with wisdom and level-headedness. Although fictional, the character Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird has the attributes of the wise father figure of the classic novel. Atticus never spoke out against anyone or acted for his own selfishness; but kept his eyes focused on the ones he loved.

Imagine living in a world where you were expected to help someone, whilst the rest of the world was against them. That would make someone a hero, helping someone, when even though it may not help them in the long run; you tried. Just trying can give someone so much hope, hope that maybe all is not lost, that maybe, just maybe you have a chance. Having hope given to you can change your life, it makes you realize that the whole world may not be against you; that maybe they have clouded judgement, that maybe they don't know any better. How would you describe that person? That person that gave you hope, that person that helped you. They would be a hero. Atticus Finch is a hero, his job was to defend Tom Robbinson, yet he went above that,

I have gained many new writing skills over the semester. One of the skills is embedding quotes. Here is an example of me embedding from the Literary Analysis Essay, “Atticus stated to his children, ‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’ to explain to his children to try no matter how challenging (Lee 101)” (poop 2). I just wrote that Atticus stated something for the quote format. I was ecstatic about how well I did on embedding quotes. One more skill I learned was how to make a thesis statement. Here is a thesis statement from the Literary Analysis Essay, “Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows that Atticus Finch’s parenting style is authoritative as shown by him setting high

When Atticus Finch says, "You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them" he is saying that you can not judge someone until you can see life through their eyes. He is talking to Scout about Miss Caroline, because she was having trouble understanding the traditions of people in Maycomb, since she had just recently moved there. Atticus told Scout to "climb in their skin and walk around in it" and it made Scout realize that Miss Caroline couldn't possibly, "learn all Maycomb's ways in one day" so she decided to forgive her for getting her in trouble. This crucial piece of moral advice will prove to guide Scout's development for the rest of the novel. The next time this quote comes into the book is when Atticus

Throughout the course of the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, there is much controversy among the neighbors and several family members, in regard to whether or not Atticus Finch is actually a good parent. As a working, single father he does the best that he can in raising his children, yet many characters still complain that Atticus allows his children to “run wild.” This, however, is not completely accurate, and, in fact, many of these characters are not looking at the situation, or lack thereof, as a whole picture, nor are they considering the substantial childrearing techniques Atticus uses.

Imagine you are a lawyer living in the 19’th century called to defend a black man who is wrongly accused of rape. Because of the all white jury, the defendant is guilty. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is called to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. He’s putting his family in danger with this case, but he needs to do it. His children, Jem, Scout, and their friend Dill, are exposed to such things that test their maturity. They find out the harsh truth of reality and have to deal with it. The three main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird are losing hope, coming of age, and injustice.