Atticus Finch Changes In To Kill A Mockingbird

Despite setbacks of his own family, Atticus Finch, in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, was wise in defending Tom Robinson. In taking on the case, Atticus was able to teach his children the wrongs of segregation, alter the dynamic of his town and gain the respect from African Americans throughout Maycomb County. Despite the loss of respect from racist colleagues, Atticus was able to maintain his social status while helping the people of Maycomb grow to become more accepting of people of other races and backgrounds. When Atticus accepted Tom Robinson’s case, Scout, Jem and even Dill were taught the negative impact of segregation on the lives of others, and eventually learned to view segregation as an unjust separation of human beings. In

The citizens of Maycomb County were saddened by the outcome of the trial, displaying their changed views as a result of the points made by Atticus during the trial. On page 206, Mr. Underwood, a racist man, displays his change of heart to protect Atticus and his beliefs, “From a different direction, another voice cut crisply through the night: ‘You’re damn tootin’ they won’t. Had you covered all the time Atticus’” (Lee 206). Although Mr. Underwood was notorious for being racist, after Atticus took on the case, he overlooked his beliefs to protect Atticus, thus protecting the innocent Tom Robinson despite his race. In defending Tom Robinson, Atticus’ actions set a standard on how the people of the segregated town should treat others – to view all as equals. After the trial, even though not all of the residents of Maycomb completely accepted African Americans into the community, the beliefs of the well-respected Atticus contributed to the growth of the community, leading them to a better

Angry with Atticus for defending an African American, Bob Ewell warned Atticus of the potential harm that he planned to bring the Finch family. “Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (Lee 290). While this confrontation foreshadowed the future attack on the Finch children, the population of Maycomb who respected Atticus, worked to protect the children from harm’s way. Such valor was displayed on page 362 as Boo Radley, a man who hadn’t left the confines of his home in several years, attacked and murdered Bob Ewell before he could hurt the children he planned to attack. In another instance, in chapter 29, when Scout was describing her experience the night of the attack, “‘Somebody was staggerin’ around and pantin’ and-coughing fit to die. I thought it was Jem at first, but it didn’t sound like him, so I went lookin’ for Jem on the ground. I thought Atticus had come to help us and got wore out- Why, there he is, Hey, Boo’” (Lee 362). Although Atticus endangered the well-being of his family by taking on the Tom Robinson case, the new found respect he had earned from various community members allowed for the family to have protection from any danger as well as a support system to provide food and other necessities during the family’s