How Does Harper Lee Bring Out Different Aspects Of Atticus

How Does Harper Lee Bring Out Different Aspects of Atticus?
Within her book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee is able to bring out a number of aspects of Atticus
Finch’s character, such as being empathetic, brave, and well-respected.
Atticus Finch is not only a father, but a role model to his children Scout and Jem. They look to him for advice. This becomes evident when Scout turns to her father, refusing to attend school, exemplifying
Burris Ewell. Atticus then tells her that she must abide by the law, whilst sometimes it is ‘better to bend the law in special cases’. The idiomatic expression ‘bend the law’ suggests that Atticus, being a lawyer, is aware of the fact that the legal system may not always be suitable towards certain types of people. The euphemism, ‘special cases’, implies that the Ewells are ‘special’ in that they are poor, and uneducated, yet Atticus does not place judgment upon them. He is unwilling to label the Ewells as anything negative as this may lead to a misunderstanding and perhaps poor judgment when coupled with Scout’s child-like perspective. He also advises a naïve and confused Scout that one can never really understand another’s reasons ‘until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’. The metaphor suggests that Atticus believes it in crucial to understand a person before placing judgment – an aspect crucial to his occupation as a lawyer. The fact that Atticus teaches his youngest daughter the need to be empathetic at such a young age is evident of his values and how important an attribute he believes empathy to be. His ability to put himself in another’s shoes allows him to not only be a good role model for his children, but also for the entire Maycomb community. The advice he chooses to give Scout ultimately contributes to her overall growth as a person, and thus catalyzing, in a way, this Buildingsromans.
In addition, Atticus is also shown to be as brave as he is empathetic. In a more literal sense, Atticus’ bravery is asserted when Tim Johnson, a dog with rabies, walks through Maycomb. The majority of the town’s people are unwilling to take action, yet Atticus steps out, driven by the need to protect his family. In this instance, a newer, more active side of Atticus’ character is put forward. This is made evident in Lee’s description of Maycomb after Atticus had gone outside to put down Tim Johnson.
Only after the danger was faced by someone else,‘the neighbourhood slowly came alive’. The postmodifier ‘alive’ insinuates the way in which when faced with an issue, much of the town’s people choose to hide away and cower from it, unwilling to face it head-on as Atticus had. This is also further evidence of how his character contrasts from the majority of the Maycomb society. On another level, Atticus’ bravery is shown through a more passive manner, less outright, and more through his attitude towards others. The time in which this novel is set, during the 1930s, was a time where racial segregation was widely accepted and commonly practiced. Contrary to the attitudes of most of Maycomb, Atticus is able to differentiate between ‘Negros’ as ‘niggers’. He chooses to defend Tom Robinson, a Negro, despite much antagonism from the town, as well as being aware of the negative repercussions it would bring upon his family. Atticus is also shown to have a strength, not in a physical sense, but in his ability to withstand social expectations. This is made clear when he chooses to defend a Negro named Tom
Robinson. When questioned, he responds ‘if I didn’t, I couldn’t hold my head up my head in town’. The idiomatic phrase ‘hold my head up’ is indicative of the amount of respect Atticus has for himself, as well as the fact that he is aware that what he has chosen to do will have negative implications on his
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reputation and his family. Regardless of these risks, he is determined to move forward in the case to defend the socially disadvantaged. The personal pronoun ‘I’ implies that this case has a more personal attachment to him, in that if he had refused the case, he would regret, causing him to question the strength of his morals and ability to stand by them.
Atticus is also a man with a strong moral compass. One of the more superficial ways in which Lee displays this, is within his name. ‘Finch’ being the proper noun of both a species of bird as well as
Atticus’ family name, is symbolic of doing the right thing, as practiced by Atticus in both his daily life and occupation. For example, upon discovering Jem’s persistent plans to make Boo Radley come out, he scolds them for having putBoo Radley’s life ‘on display for the edification of the neighbourhood’.
The noun ‘edification’ implies that the children, in Atticus’ perspective, see Boo Radley with lack of humanity, only there to act as a frequent rumor topic for the town, ultimately acting as a source of entertainment inMaycomb. Unlike most of the town, he stands up for Boo Radley, empathizing and protecting him for further neighbourhood ridicule and hearsay. This is also reflected in his defending
Tom Robinson thereby keeping to his morals but defying the social norm. Furthermore, Atticus is shown to have had a rather fortunate upbringing, within a family able to afford slaves, as referred to as ‘Finch
Negros’ by Scout.This clearly emphasizes Atticus’ strong sense of right and wrong. Despite having grown up seeing Negros as slaves, he voluntarily chooses to defend one. In doing so, Lee enables the reader to feel a considerable amount of respect and admiration for his character, his motive to defend Tom
Robinson being purely internal. Moreover, Atticus is Earlier on in the novel, Lee touches upon the effects of the Great Depression which took place around the time in which this book is set. This issues that are brought out by financial difficulty are represented by Mr Cunningham’s inability to pay Atticus for his services. Clearly aware of his situation, Atticus tells him that paying him should be ‘the least of [his] worries’. The superlative ‘least’ shows the reader that Atticus does not put money first, before his initial desire to help those in need. In putting Mr Cunningham at ease, he clearly shows that he trusts his community, and strongly believes that Mr Cunningham will eventually pay him back, understanding the financial difficulty the Cunninghams face. Being an altruistic man, Atticus happy to help, and thus not too preoccupied with money and forms in which he receives payment.
Atticus is clearly a well-respected man within Maycomb County, and the incident with Tim Johnson, the dog with rabies serves as a good example. The Sheriff turns to Atticus, asking him to shoot the dog, lacking confidence in his own aiming skills. Atticus is then referred to as ‘One-Shot Finch’. The proper noun holds significance as it shows the respect that the Sheriff has for him and his accuracy in shooting from a distance. Atticus’ children, Jem and Scout, also show a great deal of respect for their father, and look up to him as a role-model and strive to prove themselves to him. When Jem’s shorts are left at the
Radley place, he goes back to retrieve them despite being aware of the risk of being shot by Mr Nathan
Radley. When Scout asks him why, he explains that Atticus has never physically punished him and he ‘just wanna keep it that way’. The colloquial verb ‘wanna’ is indicative of the lengths Jem will go to, in order to maintain the respect his father has for him as well as to maintain the trust between them. He is afraid of what Atticus might think of him if ever he found out about Jem’s disobeying his orders to stay

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away from the Radley place. On the other hand, Atticus is also seen to be a character that is respectful towards others. For example, Atticus states that Jem’s explanations are ‘very nearly accurate’ after having heard his definition of ‘entailment’. The intensifier coupled with the adverb ‘nearly’ takes on a more positive tone – a euphemism for ‘Jem is wrong’. Atticus has enough respect for his son, careful as to not put him down directly, discouraging him, but gently enough to let Scout know that her older brother may not always be correct. In addition, when his children ask him if the tree Mr Nathan Radley had filled with cement was, in fact dying, as previously stated by MrRadley, Atticus chooses to avoid giving a direct answer, stating that ‘MrRadley knows more about trees’ than he does. Despite the fact that the tree was obviously not dying and looked healthy, Atticus did not expose this, confident in the fact that MrRadley had his reasons for lying. This is suggests that he respects Nathan Radley’s choices enough not question them.
Harper Lee is able to present Atticus as a man of many attributes. His ability to empathize shown within his relationship with his children, his bravery within the encounter with Tim Johnson, and his strong sense of right and wrong within his willingness to defend a Negro. He inspires admiration and respect from readers. Common with many of the adult characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, the children are microcosms of their fathers, and therefore, much of Atticus is brought out by the Finch children, Jem and Scout.

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