Atticus Finch Research Paper

Words: 1084
Pages: 5

Are you the type of person who stands up to peer pressure? Are you confident staying true to who you are, and making decisions you think are best, regardless of what others think? Behind the covers of the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there is a character who is faced with decisions that impact not only his life, but the lives of many others. In this post-Civil War story, loving single father and attorney, Atticus Finch is given the chance to defend an African-American by the name of Tom Robinson. There are conflicting opinions on how he should have handled the charges that were made against Tom regarding rape. Some people may say he should have taken the case and fulfilled his duty as an attorney: defending Tom to the best of his ability like his life depended on it. Disagreements are inevitable as some may perceive Atticus’s …show more content…
Why should Atticus not defend someone who is guiltless? Atticus took the case and defended Tom even though he knew that his chances of winning remained slim. However, he showed significant evidence to prove Tom innocent. He drew from the mouth of the father that the girl’s left eye was blackened and then continued by having the father sign his name revealing that he utilized his left hand. In addition to this, Atticus showed how Tom’s left hand was crippled. He ultimately concluded that the guilty party was not Tom, but the father. Tom was in a position where a girl was being abused by her father. One day when the father was away, the girl asked Tom to come inside and help her. Her heart was not loved; her mind was not loved; her desire to be loved drove her to kiss Tom. As the father came, Tom saw him and knowing that being near her would end badly for him, he ran. The father entered and beat up his own daughter. In order to hide it, he accuses Tom of raping