How Is Atticus Finch Portrayed

To kill a mocking bird is a novel written by Harper lee set in the southern part of America just after the civil war had ended . This means that though slavery had been abolished , black people were still held to a lower standard than white people . It is not only black people who are subjected to racial prejudice but also anyone who fails to conform to the social norms of the ‘tired old town’ of Maycomb.

Atticus Finch is one of the main characters in To Kill a Mocking Bird.He is the father to Jem and Scout finch and a lawyer in Maycomb County .Most of the main themes in the novel are shown in one way or another through this character.

One of the main themes in the book is Intolerance .Atticus is adamant about his children not developing the same intolerant views that the other inhabitants of the town have towards people who are different to themselves. This is shown during a conversation held between Atticus and his daughter, Scout ,after she judges her new teacher .He says to her, ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’

This shows Atticus as a very empathetic man .He could easily follow the other people of Maycomb in turning against anyone who is different but instead decides to look at things from their side of the situation, a skill needed in his line of work as a lawyer .It also shows that he wants his children to have these traits , as he is willing to teach Scout about empathy. He wants to change Maycomb’s ways and is starting this by sending his children into the world with a better understanding of the people in it in the hopes of sculpting a generation of more tolerant people.

However, Scout struggles with this concept. This is shown when a poor boy named Walter Cunningham visits the finch residence for a meal and Scout acts very judgemental , criticising him for the way he acts at the dinner table .Not only does this part of the book show a lot about Scout , it shows a lot about Atticus as well. The book says ‘Atticus shook his head at me again.’

Atticus doesn’t vocalise his protest to Scouts verbal assault on Walter. This may have been to spare Walter any further embarrassment which strengthens the idea that Atticus is very empathetic .It may have also been a way of showing how in control of his children Atticus truly is. He doesn’t need words to convey to his children his how he is feeling or what he wants them to do, a simple shake of his head is enough. This paints Atticus as a natural leader which would help him a lot in the courtroom.

Though Scout treats Walter badly, the interactions between Walter and Atticus go very differently. Atticus treats Walter like an equal. This is shown in the book when Lee writes ‘While Walter piled food on his plate, he and Atticus talked like two men-‘. This shows that Atticus does not discriminate by age , but treats those mature enough , despite how young they are, like equals .In fact , the book shows Atticus as undiscriminating, be it against gender, age or race.

In a town where the vast majority of residents look at black people as lesser than themselves, Atticus stands out in the book as one of the few people who are pro-equality. While other white families treat the black people who work at their homes as slaves, Atticus treats Calpurnia, the finch’s cook, as part of the family. When Scout speaks badly of Calpurnia, Atticus says to her ‘I’ve no intention of getting rid of her, now or ever. We couldn’t operate a single day without Cal.’ The quote shows Atticus respects Calpurnia despite the colour of her skin. He is not afraid to admit that Calpurnia is the only thing keeping the family working , which shows he is honest , even in the face of judgment .When he says ‘I’ve no intention of getting rid of her, now or ever.’ It shows he is loyal. Calpurnia is not just an employee to him , she is also a valued member of the household who he finds irreplaceable , a view point not shared by many in the town. More proof that Atticus is not racist is in the fact that he took Tom Robinson’s case. Tom Robinson is a 25 year old black man who is wrongly accused of the rape of a white woman. Since Atticus would be defending Tom against a white person, many of the townsfolk disapprove of it, seeing it as a betrayal. This means almost the whole town turns against the Finch family. In the book, Atticus says ‘every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally.’ This shows that Atticus understands that he and his family going to face a lot of backlash for taking the case. He takes it any way, as it is a matter of honour to him. Atticus knows exactly where a Negro stands in the south. Despite the abolition of slavery at the end of the civil war, in the eyes of the people of Maycomb, black people were still viewed as second class citizen’s .though he knows he cannot win, he has to take the case in order to not lose his self respect or the respect of the people whose opinion he cares about. This point is supported when Atticus says to uncle Jack when asked to pass the case on to someone else, ‘Do you think i could face my children otherwise ?’ It took Atticus a lot of moral courage to see the case through.

Though Atticus is prepared to face the judgment of the townsfolk, he wishes he could protect his children from it all. This is shown in a conversation held between Atticus and his brother, Jack regarding the Tom Robinson case. Atticus says ‘what worries me is that she and Jem will have to absorb some ugly things pretty soon.’
By ‘ugly things’ Atticus is referring to the slander that Scout and Jem are subjected to prior and during the trial. The use of the word ugly really emphasises Atticus’ view point on the verbal abuse. Atticus is a gentleman and usually respects other people’s opinions and what they have to say even if they go against his own opinion or insults him personally. Describing it in such a way infers that Atticus finds the behaviour distasteful. If the townsfolk had insulted Atticus directly, he would respect their opinions, though he may like them. What angered him is that they not only say it behind his back but to his children, the very people he is trying to shield from such view points.

Atticus not only tries to protect his children on a mental level, but when they are physically threatened by a rabid dog by the name of Tim Johnson , he plays the role of protective father and breaks one of his own moral codes to save his children and the other inhabitants of the town . Similarities can be found between Atticus and Tim Johnson. ‘What remained of his poor mind made him pause and seem to consider which road he would take. He made a few hesitant steps and stopped in front of the Radley gate; then he tried to turn around, but was having difficulty.’ These are the words Lee used when describing Tim Johnsons struggle. These could easily be applied to Atticus’s moral struggle as he is torn between the right choices and the easy choices.

Atticus’s struggle begins when he takes the case. He starts off on a straight course, making noble and honourable choices in the name of justice. Then circumstances change and he is given a choice. He can continue on the course he’s on. If Tim Johnson had taken this path it would have led him straight to the Radley place, potentially putting the Radleys in danger. In the novel, Lee uses the Radley family as a symbol for intolerance. In the same way that Tim Johson could kill the Radley family, Atticus has the chance to put an end to intolerance in Maycomb if he were to see the case through to the end. Both Tim and Atticus meet obstacles on this course. While Tim’s is a physical thing (namely the gate to the Radley yard) Atticus’s obstacles manifest themselves in the form of traditions that have been present in Maycomb for generations.

Then there is the easy way. For Tim Johnson this is to follow the curve of the road where there is nothing but open space. For Atticus, it is to forget about the case, to pass it on to another lawyer and avoid the slander and judgement from the other residents. But in the same way that Tim Johnson struggles to turn around, Atticus cannot walk away from the case without jeopardising his personal beliefs and morals, or risking the respect of his children. The fact that Atticus saw the case through, even with all the obstacles , shows he is very passionate about staying true to his beliefs.

The moral code I referred to is Atticus’s choice to not take a life. Known by the older generation of Maycomb as ‘one-shot finch’, Atticus is the best shot in the county but chooses not to use his talent as he thinks, as Miss Maudie put it, ‘God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things’ (Miss Maudie is used by Lee as a narrative device as the narrator of the story, Scout, is too young to know about Atticus’s shooting history). Atticus has a deep belief in equality and will do what he can to balance the scales.

Like his marksmanship skills, Atticus may also view being white as an unfair advantage given by God over black people, who are viewed as lesser than himself. Since this is not something Atticus can fix by doing something as simple as putting down his gun, he uses his position of power, both as a white man and a lawyer , to sway the people’s opinions and stop the injustice that black people endure .

Atticus shows physical courage when he picks up the gun and shoots the dog. He views courage as an important trait to have and therefore respects people who do. Among these people is Mrs Dubose. Though arguable the character that contrasts most with Atticus, in some ways, they are surprisingly alike.

Mrs Dubose’s personality is much like the camellias found in her garden. Camellias are very large and very bright flowers and, as a result, can be seen as quite garish and distasteful. Those words may also be used by Jem and Scout to describe how they see Mrs Dubose. She is very vocal about her opinions, despite the negative affects they might have on other people. She always speaks her mind and is truthful to the extent of seeming insulting since she doesn’t filter through her thoughts to find what is appropriate and not appropriate to say to who she’s addressing. An example of this is when she says to Jem and Scout ‘Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for !’.This quote shows an obvious disregard for the childrens feelings.

Hidden behind the bright colours of the elaborate flower is dried fruit . It is not nice to look at and is often hidden away as to not spoil the aesthetics of the camellia .This is another trait that Mrs Dubose shares with her beloved flowers. Behind her rough exterior, Mrs Dubose is going through a terrible struggle that some could say even surpasses Atticus’s. The fruit could be a metaphor for this. Her struggle is attempting to quit her addiction to morphine in order to leave the world ‘beholden to nothing and nobody ‘.

Atticus had great respect for her .He says ‘she was the bravest person I ever knew.’ He even holds her above himself in terms of role models for his children, saying, ‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.’ Atticus may be referring to young boys at that time idolising soldiers like those that fought in the civil war but he may have been referring to himself and the way Jem views him as brave after he shot Tim Johnson. If it is the latter, it shows Atticus is self-deprecating and that he believes it is easy to pull a trigger when it means no consequence to yourself but seeing how bad it is going to turn out for you and yet still going through with it anyway ,like Mrs Dubose and Atticus with the case , is what takes real courage. This point is supported when Atticus goes on to say ‘It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.’.

In conclusion, Atticus is presented in the book as the voice of justice in Maycomb. In a town filled with prejudice, hatred and injustice, Lee uses Atticus as a symbol of all that is right. He is honourable , brave , truthful and other characteristics that make him the perfect person. He is quite an unrealistic character , but in a town as badly ridden with racism and judgement as Maycomb , it would take someone that is compassionate beyond what a human is capable of to make a difference. Atticus is the physical representation of the idea that unless somebody cares an aweful lot, nothing is going to change.