Atticus Finch And Macbeth Comparison

Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and the title character in Macbeth by William Shakespeare are two characters who have contrastingly different morals. We see these two characters’ differences highlighted through their perception of life and how to deal with others. Atticus Finch is surrounded by a culture of degrading black people; likewise, Macbeth is around his degrading wife, who drives him to be a ‘man’ and ultimately leads to the death of his moral consciousness. The ultimate difference between the two is how they conform or don’t conform to their external influences and their inner, selfish influences. We can see whether they conform by looking at what they are ambitious for, their moral consciousness, and their
On the other hand, we see Atticus ambitiously fighting for justice for Tom Robinson and for the work of Christ. Atticus strongly mimics the words of Moses in Exodus 23:2, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong”. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd”. Atticus could have ignored the case and remained silent, but we see the case is not only for justice, but a matter of his faith. We see this when he says to Scout, “Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.” (Page 139). This statement from Atticus directly mimics scripture in 1 John 4:20: “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen”. Through how Macbeth or Atticus values a good moral consciousness, we can see whether they conform to their influences. We see Macbeth’s ambitious desire for power being taunted by a hallucination of a dagger. This vision ultimately pushes Macbeth to overcome his moral fear and kill the
However, Atticus places a high value on moral consciousness. This becomes transparent when we see him fighting for justice, as well as trying to plant a good moral consciousness in his kids. Atticus does not conform to the influences around him, he doesn’t follow in the community’s footsteps of teaching a poor moral consciousness that hating black people is okay. Instead, he emphasizes teaching his children the importance of empathy and justice, as seen when he advises Scouts to understand people by considering things from their point of view. We can finally see whether Macbeth or Atticus conform to their influences through their patience and understanding in dealing with others. Macbeth, driven by selfish ambition, is impatient and shows a lack of empathy. His immediate reaction to obstacles is violence against those who threaten his power, including King Ducan and Banquo. This demonstrates his conformity to his selfish desires and external influences. In contrast, Atticus embodies patience and understanding, resisting the racist social norms around him. He remains calm and controlled, even when he is faced with threats and hostility from people like Bob