To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis

Throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, it seems as if Atticus Finch is a failure as both a parent and a lawyer. However, somebody with a good understanding of the novel will realise that Atticus is in fact a terrific lawyer and a superb father. However, like all people, Atticus has his flaws.

Firstly, through the Finch family, Atticus teaches both his children that they should never judge a book by its cover, and that courage is one of the most important qualities one can have. Near the beginning of the book, Scout comes home from school, extremely flustered about the day. She then continues to rant about how awful the children at school are, as well as her teacher. Atticus, her father, replies “... You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. Later in the book, Atticus sends his son, Jem, to an old woman’s house, whom he hates, to read to her. Unknowingly by Jem, he is being sent to help the woman out of a morphine addiction. After Jem has completed his service, they find that the woman has died and sent a gift to Jem as a thanks for all he has done. In turn, Jem is completely dumbfounded by the gesture to the point that “[His] eyes nearly [pop] out of his head”. Atticus comforts Jem, then continues to explain the courage of the woman and the heroism of Jem, and how courage is “... when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”. Not only does this show how Atticus’ core values as a parent, it also shows how he parents and how he wants his children to grow up to be. On the other side of things however, the Ewell family has incredibly loose family values, and certain members of the family are unwilling to help the family improve their way of life.

Instead of explaining to his children how the white society should treat others of a different race, he teaches his kids about equality. He says to Scout: "I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes—baby, 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 you" (Lee 144). In other words, Atticus declares that he does his best to love everybody, which teaches Scout that she should not judge or mistreat others by race, but to give equal respect to all mankind. Moreover, Atticus gives his children a perspective on what real courage is. He says to Scout: “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (Lee 149). Atticus’ statement gives Scout a lesson. She learns that courage is not doing a hard task and being able to succeed in it. It is about believing in something and doing your best to achieve it, even though you may not succeed. Atticus teaches his kids moral values by telling them the act of true courage and leads them to the path of

Atticus is a wise father and helps his children accept people no matter how they look or act. This is evident when he says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (Lee 33). Throughout the novel, Jem and Scout mature at different paces. Atticus guides his children as they begin to grow and mature. “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem.” “No son, It’s not right.” (Lee 243). When Atticus lost the case, Jem expressed how he felt. He had tears on his face. Here was a turning point for Jem because he was old enough to understand the case. Atticus comforted him and agreed it was not right. Atticus shows affection towards his children when they saved him from trouble with “the mob”. “As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem’s hair, his one gesture of affection.” (Lee 176). At first, Atticus may have been frustrated with his children being at the office. Then, their innocence saved him. Atticus has many characteristics and is a loving father. Atticus displays a valuable lesson about equality and fairness for his children.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout Finch learn the true meaning of courage through their father, Atticus, and his fight against racism in their hometown. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout view Atticus as a boring older man that works in an office and does not deserve their admiration. At the turning point of the novel Miss Maudie tells them their father was once the “deadest shot” in Maycomb, and the children finally see Atticus as a role model. Jem and Scout learn from Atticus the true meaning of courage and their views of Atticus differentiate from not understanding him and therefore not admiring him, to an exciting man with marksman skills, and ultimately to a

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.

Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, follows multiple dynamic characters, including, Atticus Finch. Atticus is the father of two other main characters, Jem and Scout Finch; as he raises them on his own, we learn that he is honest to his children and leads them by example. Atticus is able to positively influence Jem and Scout, teaching them to respect and be considerate of others throughout the story. In Part One of the story, we quickly learn that Atticus is a wise, considerate father.

Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird possesses many admirable characters, but one shines above the rest. Atticus Finch is portrayed in the story as nearly the perfect father. Atticus not only pours his heart and soul into his career as an honest lawyer, but he also displays commendable traits as a father. Throughout the story he treats his children with respect; almost as if they were mature adults. He never simplifies his speech just because he is speaking to children.

Atticus Finch is an honest, humble, and fair man. He is one of the most important characters of the book, and he sets an example for everyone else in Maycomb. His actions are motivated by his struggle for justice and his dedication to his family, friends, and the innocent or weak, which connects to the second theme of the Individual in Society. Atticus portrays these traits a lot throughout the book, when educating and correcting his kids on their actions and their behavior, or when helping others in Maycomb as a lawyer. Atticus is a stern but fair father, harsh when he needs to be but forgiving and attentive, ready to listen when his kids have something to say.

Society looks for worth and value of themselves in individual’s comments and opinions; individuals always want to feel important to others. Although this is a delightful feeling for the person and seems innocent, at the end others are left behind and hated; as if what they did or looked like was inappropriate. Kids are thought to be a certain way as well, following in their parents’ footsteps, and being rude to those believed to be below them. Some though, believe that there should be no such thing and that nobody should be hated no matter the cause. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird portrayed the significance of how we treat each other based on differences, and how do we learn to do so. The novel then states that people should never treat others differently because they don't act the same way they do, and the ways hatefulness spreads through the future, the children.

Have you ever judged someone by their appearance and responded negatively, and later realized their reality? In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960), many characters are being judged due to their appearance. Although in reality, their personalities might be a totally different, they are treated negatively. When the book To Kill A Mockingbird came out in the 1960s, it was immediately successful and it even won the Pulitzer Prize. The book was based on Harper Lee’s youth and personal experiences. In our world, we keep on teaching people not to judge others by their appearance, but this world is filled with humans that make mistakes and don’t listen, but we should not stop teaching this should actually encourage others to stop gossiping or judging others. In To Kill A Mockingbird, imagery portrays how Atticus, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose are unfairly judged due to their appearance.

“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.” This is a common Native American proverb, and also a quote from the book Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. This is telling you to look at a situation from someone else’s point of view before making a decision. By doing this, you become inadvertently more sympathetic and compassionate towards other people. Many times in To Kill a Mockingbird, the main characters: Scout, Jem, and Atticus, look at something from another person’s shoes. On page 30, Atticus gives Scout this advice and at first she doesn’t understand it. As the book progresses, she sees the meaning of his words and becomes more sympathetic as a result. Some cases of these three characters taking this advice are the interactions between Jem and Ms. Dubose, Atticus talking to Jem about the snowman that Jem made, and at the very end when Scout walks Boo Radley back to his house after the night when Jem broke his arm.

Famous philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli stated, “I’m not interested in maintaining the status quo; I want to overthrow it.” This is the mentality that everyone should strive to advocate. People uphold the status quo because they are comfortable within the community and fear that not abiding by it would lead to being outcasted by the community. Society is quick to judge others when they have a unbreakable mindset about a group someone may come from, the color of their skin, or who they associate with. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many people are victims of prejudice in the town of Maycomb. Atticus Finch takes on case involving a black man accused of raping a white woman, and throughout the novel, the inhabitants of Maycomb are revealed to have prejudice views on numerous residents of the town. Maycomb exhibits long standing prejudice, which shows that people will ostracize others to maintain the status quo despite their individual morals.

To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb Alabama in the 1930’s. During the 1930’s was the beginning of the Great Depression. At the same time there was racial segregation happening in the south. Because of all the white supremacists, and racists living in Maycomb at the time, it was very easy to be influenced by others. Growing up, the Finch’s begin to be exposed to the society they live in, how people treated others. During Scout’s childhood she spends lots of time at her school. On her first day she meets her new teacher Miss Caroline. Miss Caroline is from Winston County, North Alabama, where thing are different. While teaching she soon realizes that Maycomb is much different from where she used to teach. While trying to contain her students she demonstrates lots of traits about herself. Miss Caroline’s ambition for her students to be the best forces her to be a good role model, make sure they stay on track, and care for them.

Topic sentence: In the historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus does his best to raise his children to be compassionate, courageous adults.