What Is Atticus Finch's Behavior

Savior of Society

Did you ever wonder why someone thought to separate blacks from whites, then wonder why someone decided to join them together again? In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many uncomfortable situations were addressed that many people today preferably don’t like to talk about nowadays. This is why Atticus Finch encourages his children, Jem and Scout, to be aware of segregation. Within the novel, there is a rape case that discusses a black man being accused of the crime. This case afflicts many emotions and actions from multiple characters but specifically Atticus, the lawyer on the black man’s side. The emotions from him are about how his life revolves around social disrespect and racial dishonesty which causes

Atticus explains to Jem that no matter the circumstances you should treat every man kindly, although their appearances may not be appealing to you. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men everyday of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it-- Whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”(298). The lesson Atticus is teaching is that no one should be treated differently because of their social status, and that you look cheap talking to someone like that. Another time Atticus taught something similar to this was when he was explaining phrases that were commonly used to associate white people with black people in a bad manor, to Scout. “‘Scout,’said Atticus, ‘nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t really mean anything-- like snot nose. It’s hard to explain-- Ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves...they want a common, ugly term to label somebody”(107-109). Atticus explains this to Scout because although inconsiderate people use these names to shame anyone in relation to black people, Atticus wanted to make sure Scout wasn’t losing her head over what he believed he truly was. These events changed Jem’s point of racial dishonesty by showing him there will always be a bias point of view, and for Scout there is always a positive thing to come out of something