Atticus Finch Research Paper

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Pages: 4

To Kill A Mockingbird-Atticus As a Father Atticus Finch takes on an onslaught of abuse as he fights against the souls of Maycomb county to defend an African American in court. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee tells a story of two children growing up as they face challenges concerning their father’s court case of defending Tom Robinson. Atticus Finch, the Father of Jean-Louise Finch and Jeremy Finch, is an admirable man, and a hero nonetheless. But like any man, he has made mistakes along this path as a father and a lawyer, but it makes him no less of an incredible father. One of these qualities shows when Jem becomes enraged as a result of someone insulting his father. Atticus attempts to explain to them why they can’t get angry at people who are hateful towards them. Scout was asking why it wasn’t alright to get mad at people who didn’t respect her father’s decisions on Tom Robinson’s court case, which is when Atticus states, “They’re entitled to full respect for their opinions” said Atticus,”, “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” (108). In this short monologue, Atticus not only tells Scout that people may be harsh and cruel, but you …show more content…
Atticus took on Tom Robinson’s case knowing that he was putting not only himself in danger, but his children in the process too. He explains why he needs to pick up this case by saying,"This case, Tom Robinson's case, is something that goes to the essence of a man's conscience- Scout, I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man”(108 ) But Atticus has his reasons for picking up this case. He feels that if he didn’t defend Tom Robinson in court, he would no longer be able to respect himself. If he can’t respect himself, how would he be able to doing anything with confidence or meaning behind what he