To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee: Character Analysis

Parts one and two have very different plots and contrast greatly. In part one we learn valuable information about the history of the characters and Maycomb’s ‘southern ways’, we get valuable details that prepare us as the reader for part two. Atticus, however, also prepares his children for the events of part two, such as the trial of Tom Robinson, and all of the criticism and negative comments that would be coming their way. There were many events that helped Atticus see the opportunity to teach Jem and Scout some valuable lessons. The 3 main events that helped him prepare them are the incident on Scout’s first day at school after her getting into a fight with Miss Stephanie, the unusual incident with the rabid dog, and the death of Mrs Dubose.

The rabid dog incident was very significant in Jem and Scout learning information about their father
that they never knew, when Scout goes to see Miss Maudie, she tells her that “he is the best checker player in this town” and Scout claims that her and Jem always beat him, and Miss Maudie then explains that “its about time you found out its because he lets you” which surprised Scout a lot, as she thought her father was not anything special as we see when Scout as the narrator describes Atticus as that “he never went hunting, he did not play poker or fish or drink or smoke.
He sat in the living room and read” which shows that he is a studious lawyer and somewhat of a loner, and he does not conform to society’s views of what is needed to be a southern gentleman, and also how he sets a sensible example for his children.He does not boast about anything. When Atticus gets put in the position that he has to shoot the dog, he is very reluctant to do so, and when he finally does, Jem and Scout are slightly angry that he had never told them that he was that good at shooting. “one-shot Finch” as Jem calls him. Which shows how he is too modest to tell them, which also explains why when
Atticus gave Jem and Scout their own air rifles, Jem gets annoyed at him and explains how he “wouldn’t teach us to shoot”, however he was simply trying not to boast and let Jem and Scout know he could shoot, as he doesn’t want them to grow up thinking that a man is someone with a good job, or a man that can fire a gun, had ultimate respect and power over people, and doesn’t want to give them the wrong impression. Another point is that the dog, called “Tim Johnson”, has a name very similar to “Tom Robinson” both of whom Atticus has to take care of. It is an example of Atticus protecting the community from something dangerous, but Jem and Scout believe he isn’t ‘macho’ enough, neither Jem nor Scout consciously idolizes him at the beginning of the novel. Both are embarrassed that he is older than other fathers and doesn’t play with them, or do anything that the other children’s fathers would do.

Mrs Dubose, although only being a minor character in a few capters, possibly made the biggest impact on the children, as she taught the children the true meaning of courage and bravery. Atticus always shows such admiration for Mrs Dubose, even though she abuses him and the children, and she is extremely racist, and takes this out on Atticus calling him a “nigger-lover”. She expresses her opinions very strongly to Jem and Scout, which upsets them a lot, as they don’t like to hear their father being spoken about in such ways, and Jem gets extremely protective over him and recklessly terrorised her garden. Jem knows he had done wrong as he made Scout run back to their house and hide from Atticus. When Atticus returns from work, extremely angry, and forces Jem to go and apologize, he has a long talk with Scout and prepares her for what is coming, saying “when summer comes you’ll have to keep your head about for far worse things” and subconsciously this made an impact on Scout by meaning that this was nothing compared to the things that they would be hearing about him during the trial. Scout gets very upset by the whole situation and tells Atticus “most folks think they’re right and you’re wrong” and Atticus cleverly responds “they’re certainly entitled to think that and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions” which teaches Scout that people can always think what they like and no-one is necessarily always right. Jem on the other hand, learns a valuable lesson after terrorising Mrs Dubose’s garden. Atticus explains how “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” and that it means a lot to him and he will do his job no matter what, weather he thinks he will win or loose.