Atticus is a gentleman to the folks in Maycomb; he respect others and goes for what 's right no matter what. For example, Scout questions Atticus of being a nigger lover and said “I certainly am.I do my best to love everybody” and “it 's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is bad name.” (pg. 144-145) Showing that he did admit that he do like black people but there’s nothing wrong about liking blacks. He was also threaten and was spit in the face by Bob Ewell after the Tom Robinson case; but Atticus explained that getting spitted in the face and threatened probably saved Mayella from a beating (pg. 292-293) Scout is a girl who sometimes let anger get to her; Scout also tries to act older but she still has a lot to learn about growing up. When Scout got in trouble on the first day of school by explaining the ways of the Cunninghams to Miss Caroline, Scout smudges Walker Cunningham 's face into the schoolyard at lunch. (pg.31) Showing that Scout was letting her anger on Walker when it wasn 't even his fault for getting her in trouble. In that chapter, Walker was invited to eat with the Finch family for lunch; Scout questioned Walker for eating so strange to her. Which was disrespectful Calpernia as explain that “There’s some folks who don 't eat like us” (pg.32) when she pulled Scout into the kitchen but Scout still didn 't understand why she must be respectful to a Cunningham. This sets off Calpernia off making her tell Scout to stay and eat in the kitchen;
In the novel, Atticus is seen as a nonjudgmental person that treats everyone alike and that is the reason everybody in Maycomb likes him. Additionally, Atticus is a strong believer in justice and complying with the law. During the novel, Scout asks Atticus if he is “really a nigger-lover” (Lee, 112) and Atticus replies “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody…” (Lee, 112). Also, “while Walter piled food onto his plate, he and Atticus talked together like two men…” (Lee, 24) To explain, Atticus talks to Walter, a poor farmer boy, as if he was a regular person. Just as the children are trying to give Boo Radley, Atticus catches them and commands them to “stop tormenting that man.”(Lee, 50) To clarify, Atticus orders them to stop because he realizes it is morally wrong to mock the Radley family or any other family which shows that Atticus believes in treating everyone equally and that everyone should have justice.
Atticus is a mockingbird for the Maycomb society. He has the correct attitude towards different races. In Tom Robinson’s case, he provides strong arguments Tom’s accusation and proves that Tom Robinson did not rape and harm Mayella Ewell. Even though Atticus failed to restore Tom back to Tom’s family due to racial discrimination existed commonly in Maycomb in 1930s, Atticus leads the society to take the first small step in the right direction in the battle against racial discrimination, according to the quote stated by Miss Maudie, “Atticus Finch won’t win, he can’t
In the town of Maycomb most of its citizens were racist towards people of colored skin. The citizens of Maycomb weren’t evil or bad, but they were raised in a way where they thought that being racist was publicly acceptable. Atticus probably didn’t think like the citizens and was shunned because he had agreed to help Tom Robinson. Since everyone was hostile towards the black community they automatically assumed that they
Atticus, however, was a brave Christian man with moral values. He was polite and humble, and saw everyone as equals. Scout said of her father, It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.Atticus shows that he is above the people of Maycomb when he took Tom Robinsons case, rather than sharing their racist feelings. However, he still respected their choice; They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience. Even when he and his family were deemed as outcasts, he didnt drop his case. He discouraged his
He knows that even if the whole town is against him, he needs to be different, and stand up for what he knows is right. In this situation Atticus was being a nonconformist, and trying to do what was right. I think that most people, today, know that black people used to be treated very poorly, and someone in the ousts sticking up for them was hard to come by. If no one ever made the choice like Atticus, then our world would never change. It is like if everyone only liked pizza, and did not want to change their opinion about it, they would never eat anything else. At some point someone has to take actions and try to eat more foods, it would make everything so much better. This relates back to Atticus and Maycomb because if he had nev decided to take the case, and try, Maycomb would never even start to change and except black people like Tom. Would you want a world with no change? I don't think so. It is important to have a world with change, and this all starts with one voice, the voice of a non-conformist, an upstander. The importance doing this is huge in the book. When Atticus decided to defend Tom, it created a spark of change. He changed the minds of some people, including his kids, Jem and Scout. In the end it is easy to see that the “ways of Maycomb” are slowly starting to change, just little by little. The only way this could have started is by one person standing out, and that was Atticus.
As it was mentioned earlier, Atticus has a very demanding career. Tom Robinson, the young man Atticus defends, pays for the ignorant and hurtful stereotypes that are made in Maycomb every day. There is the fear of black male sexuality, brought about by stories of white women being raped and beaten by black men. "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash" (220). When the Ewell's charge Tom with rape, his decisions come not from facts of life, but the general classification and stereotypes of Maycomb. "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box" (220). Others don't take the time to understand Tom, instead fearing and distrusting him. Tom isn't the only race in Maycomb that is victimized, however.
Atticus Finch is a man of principles who is consistent in his views and deeds throughout the novel. Although he is criticized and mocked by many characters in the novel for his tolerant attitude towards the ‘Negros’, people of Maycomb still respect him and keep re-electing him to be their representative in the State Legislator. According to Miss Maudie Atkinson words to Scout, Atticus is a man who does for other people the unpleasant things they have to do. He is a defender of justice and he fights for it even if he is sure that he will be beaten at the end. He also tries throughout the novel to pass these values onto his children.
Lots of people in Maycomb disagree with Atticus defending a black man, and they do not hold their opinions back, which later on leads to violence. For instance, Atticus’s own family fears that Atticus is doing the wrong thing. Scout’s cousin, Francis, tells Scout “‘I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a n*****-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family’” (Lee 110). As you can see, from the quote, Atticus is accused of doing the wrong thing, but Atticus knows that this is not true at all.
Atticus Finch lives in the prejudice town of Maycomb while trying to uphold his morals by fighting for what is right. Firstly, Atticus believes that defending Tom Robinson is the right thing to do even if the town disrespects him for that. Atticus says, “it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt.”(108) Atticus does not mind being called names by the townspeople because he knows that he is doing the right thing. The fact that he does not let anything or anyone come in the way of him doing what is right shows that he is a man of firm morals because opinions do not matter to him as long as he knows he is doing the right thing. Secondly, Atticus tries to win Tom’s case even though he has already predicted that he will lose the case. Atticus says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no
He would lecture his children whenever they had disorderly actions. The biggest reason why Atticus is respectful is because he treated the black people of Maycomb just like anyone else that encounters him. He stated many times in the trial against Tom Robinson that people deserve to be treated equally. Atticus said, "Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal" (273). That quote acknowledges the main reason why he thinks people should be respectful, just like him.
Many people of Maycomb know Atticus because of how low key he is. No matter the situation, Atticus will keep calm and be professional. In the book, Bob pays Atticus a visit at the mail office and spits in his face. He then explained to his kids saying "...if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating that's something I'll gladly take" (Lee 292). Rather than fighting back, he walks away because he knew it wasn't worth getting in trouble for. Another point in the book, Atticus had to shoot Tim
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a kind and brave man who treats everyone with respect. Throughout his life, Atticus Finch continually represents the values of respect, courage, and justice. In Maycomb, County Atticus lives with his two kids, Scout and Jem, and their housekeeper Calpurnia. He is a defense lawyer who believes segregation is wrong. First, Atticus shows respect by how he treats others. He Answers his children's questions truthfully, even if they're embarrassing. He does this because he thinks it is wrong to lie to a child. Also, he respects the Cunningham family. Atticus Treats Walter, Jr., as an honored guest at his dinner table. One time he even assisted Mr. Cunningham with an important legal problem.
But in real life his treatment of people know matter there social status or there race makes him a likeable character. An example of this is when Atticus explains to Scout what “nigger-lover” means saying “nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything like snot-nose.”(Lee 108) Atticus and his family are constantly bombarded by members of the community for him taking on the case to defend a black person from accusations against rape. These accusations against rape. However these allegations don’t seem to bother him because in his heart he knows what he's doing is right. He also treats Calpurnia, the maid who works at his home, the same as he would treat anybody else. He even accepts and allows Calpurnia to correct his children's behaviour. Atticus views everyone as equals and it makes him a more likeable
An important event when Scout’s moral developed is when she gets scolded by Calpurnia about heckling Walter Cunningham. Walter gets invited for lunch at the Finch’s house after Jem sees Scout beating him up. During the meal, Scout satirizes Walter about his outlandish habit of pouring syrup all over his food. Seeing this, Calpurnia becomes “furious… ‘Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em- if you can’t act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen’” (page 33). When children are Scout’s age, they
The black community is thankful to Atticus because he took time to represnt the case of a black man, fighting for racism. This is ironic because even though the verdict of the judge was unfair, the black community still celebrated Atticus, as someone finally stood up for their rights. They thanked him by sending him ‘hunks of salt pork, tomatoes, beans, even scuppernongs.’. This was their way of showing that they were greatful for the action Atticus took in helping the black community.