Atticus defends his client Tom Robinson with all his heart, despite Tom being black. Although slavery has long since become abolished, in Maycomb, whites still discriminate against blacks, but Atticus has a different outlook on men. He defends Tom the way he should... fairly. Scout, Atticus' daughter, does not understand why someone would falsely accuse an innocent person. Atticus then explains to her that "... You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view..."(Lee 30). Explaining that there has to be a reason for everything, even if it was considered unjustified.…
Defending a black man accused of rape in front of a jury made up of white men, raising two children on his own with the help of a maid, and still having the strength to hold his head high when the rumors in the small, tired old town of Maycomb county Alabama seemed to thrive among its citizens. What many would consider to be numerous adversities, is Atticus Finch’s everyday life. The story of the courageous Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s bestseller To Kill a Mockingbird truly begins when Atticus is asked to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. Being the respectful, and determined man that he is, Atticus accepts his fate and takes on the case of Tom Robinson. Despite knowing that his chance of winning the case is very slight,…
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the protagonist is Atticus Finch, a father of two children named Jem and Jean Louis “Scout” Finch. His wife died when his children were very young. Atticus is quite an old, wise, white man. The book was set in the early 1930’s and it was very common for white men and women to be very racist towards others who aren’t the same race as them. But, Atticus was not like most of the white men and women. He was very kind to everyone not matter what their race was. It seemed as if he didn’t believe in racism. In the book, Atticus was a lawyer for a black man named, Tom Robinson, who was falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell. He did everything he could to win that trial. But, deep down Atticus knew he would not win because Tom Robinson wasn’t a white man. After the trial ended, he still had to stay strong for his children even though he was worn out.…
He intentionally makes time to spend quality time with Scout and Jem, and he has a deep passion for the equality of the blacks. Being a lawyer, he was assigned a case to defend Tom Robinson, a gentle and kind slave, from an accusation of rape on a poor teenage girl. Atticus truly believed in Tom’s innocence, and diligently made his case for Tom’s freedom. When the jury determined Tom guilty, seemingly on a prejudice basis, and sent him to prison, Atticus still did not give up hope, “Not time to worry yet, Scout. We’ve got a good chance.” (293) Despite the odds, he still showed passion, and maintained a hopeful outlook on Tom’s…
One of Atticus’ best traits is his fairness to all people. He treats any man no matter young, old, skinny, fat, ugly, beautiful, or even ethnicticity. Although the best thing for himself to do was not to take Tom Robinson’s case, he knew it would not be fair so he…
To Kill a Mockingbird’s themes of justice, morality, and ethics are represented through the actions and beliefs of the characters Atticus, Bob Ewell, and the town of Maycomb, represented through the Missionary Society, which is controlled by the sociable white women. Justice, as in justice by law, is inherent in the novel as is justice through karma. Morality is also central to the novel; a strong sense of morality, or rather a lack of, guides the characters as the story progresses. Ethics and unethical conduct form the basis for the plotline. Harper Lee uses characters to control the events that bring conflict in To Kill a Mockingbird.…
“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university” - (Albert Einstein). These words reflect the way Atticus Finch, protagonist, attorney, and father in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, lives his life. There is no difference to him in regards to race, social status, or gender. Atticus Finch is an admirable gentleman who demonstrates intelligence and respectfulness throughout the Tom Robinson trial and his interactions with people who despised the fact that he was taking the case. He strongly believes in respect for people of color and passes his belief down to his children by taking the Tom Robinson case. Although he is at times too trusting of people, his words and actions continue to prove to his children and community how a real gentleman behaves.…
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson is one of the witnesses that one may think is most reliable. Tom Robinson may be one of the most reliable people on the witness stand because he is not afraid to tell the truth; he is honest, nervous, and hopeful. However, one may think that Mayella is more reliable but because one may see that she is nervous and wants to fight back on ideas that she does not agree on, one might conclude that Mayella is less reliable. One key idea in Tom Robinson's testimony was that his left arm was crippled. This is key evidence because Mayella had a bruise on the right side of her face and most likely was hit by a left handed person, while in this…
Lawyers didn’t want to defend these cases because they knew they would lose. When Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a white woman in the town, Atticus is the only lawyer willing to take his case. Atticus's fearlessness showed me what being brave and standing up for your beliefs looks like. He was determined to prove Tom's innocence, but taking this case proves to be much more risky than it seems. Not only is Atticus almost guaranteed to lose, he also faces physical threats from those in his community against him. At one point even his children are bullied because of the case. Yet these hardships still do not stop Atticus. In the book Atticus says, “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. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (Lee 28). Atticus shows true courage when taking the case to defend Tom and keeps doing so by continually fighting for the case even when faced by oppression. Being deeply rooted in my faith, I understand the…
Being an adept lawyer, Judge John Taylor gave Atticus the choice to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. For Atticus, making that choice would have taken a staggering amount of courage because he would be defending a black man against a white family and therefore would have no chance of winning the case. In addition, he would give the people of Maycomb a chance to ridicule him for going against their natural practices. Also, Atticus knew that not only himself, but his family would face hardships because of him taking the trial, which could have made the decision even harder to make. However, in the end, Atticus did the righteous thing and took the trial because he knew that if he did not, it would be impossible to hold his head high knowing he made such an appalling choice exclusively based on the fact that the defendant was black. As Atticus explained his final choice to his daughter, she asked him if he thought he might win, and his response was “No, honey … Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started.”(Lee, 101) and this shows that he knew that he had no chance of winning, but he took the trial anyhow, in turn jeopardizing his current social status and even the safety of his own children, solely in order to teach them the wrongness of being a prejudiced person. Doing so, he showed great courage that resonates with the reader throughout the book. However, Atticus is not the only adult forced to show courage in relation to the trial. Defendant Tom Robinson also shows an immense collection of courage through the course of the trial and the…
Second of all, Atticus suffers injustice from the fact he commits into taking Tom’s case. He is regularly persecuted for this decision. “ You’re father is no better then the niggers and trash he works for!" (102) This makes Atticus work even harder to win the case. He tries to ignore the threats and harassments and keep the community happy. But tries to keep the law in…
The Tom Robinson trial is an important asset in To Kill a Mockingbird which emphasizes the racial injustices in court. Atticus Finch is a lawyer in Maycomb county and the father of the lead protagonist, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Atticus agreed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused…
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates determination through Atticus Finch’s ability to do what is right at all costs because he wants to set good examples. First of all, Atticus defends those who aren’t able to speak for themselves or for those who aren’t understood. Evidence of this assertion from the book is, “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.”- (pg. 39) Atticus defended Miss Caroline when Scout told him about Burris Ewell; Atticus told Scout to look at things from Miss Caroline’s perspective. Atticus knew that people shouldn’t tease Arthur Radley, so Atticus made sure his children didn’t make fun of Arthur. Atticus defended Mrs. Dubose and explained to Jem how she was the bravest person he ever knew. Second of all, Atticus accepts the trial of Tom Robinson even though the town is against him. Evidence of this second assertion is, “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.”- (pg. 139) Although Atticus knew that Tom Robinson was going to be guilty, Atticus still wanted to defend him. If Atticus couldn’t hold up his head in town, Atticus couldn’t represent this county in the legislature. He couldn’t even tell Scout or Jem not to do something again because Atticus could never ask them to mind him again. The town was against Atticus for defending a black man, but Atticus didn’t cave into the negative comments they were saying about him. When taking the case of Tom Robinson, Atticus took the responsibilities of protecting Tom. One of the times when Atticus protected Tom was when Atticus sat outside the jail late at night with a gun to protect Tom. Last of all, Atticus makes wise choices in regards to his children. Here are two evidences of this last assertion. “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one…
In the essay we will be talking about the two different sides of the trial. You will here toms and Mayella side of the story. We will compare both sides of the story.…
“If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, why are you doin’ it? To kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus is a white attorney living in Alabama, who was appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a man accused of raping a white women. At the time there is inequality between whites and blacks. Despite Atticus's complexion, because he's an attorney & it’s his job is to fight justice, he is reasonable and determined to take a stand for Tom Robinson.…