In part one of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus, the father of two young children, Jem and Scout, teaches his children many important lessons. Atticus teaches his children to not be prejudice towards other people. The children kind of already know that they shouldn’t judge people by the color of their skin from their black housekeeper, Calpurnia, who they love and appreciate. But when their Dad takes the case of Tom Robinson, people around town start calling him a “nigger- lover”, which confuses the children of their views on African- Americans. But their father reassures them that no matter what the other people say about him taking the case, that you should not judge people by the color of their skin, or who someone defends. …show more content…
Jem and Scout think that a man with a gun shows courage, but as they learn from their dad, that’s not so. The reason that when he takes the case of Tom Robinson shows courage, is that defending a black man is commonly frowned upon in Maycomb. The case of Tom Robinson is against a white woman that says that Tom raped here which Atticus believes he can’t win it but he has enough courage to take the case anyway. The courageous actions he takes to defend Tom and put up with all the name calling and such shows his children that real courage is a man that stands up for what he believes in and not a man with a gun. That’s why Atticus never told Jem and Scout that he was the best shooter in Maycomb, because he didn’t want them to see him as a man with a gun but their father that doesn’t let name calling or little things like that bring him