Character Traits In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee about a girl named Scout in a time of racism, there were many important traits that the characters represented. In the poem, “If”, by Rudyard Kipling, it talks about many characteristics that are also relevant. Atticus Finch, the father of Scout, was a significant character in the novel. Atticus has many powerful traits that are described in the poem and To Kill a Mockingbird.

In both the novel and the poem, “If”, virtue was a trait that Atticus Finch represented. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus had just accepted the call to defend an African American, and he was being targeted by his neighbors. One neighbor, named Mrs. Dubose, said, “Your father’s no better than the [blacks] and trash he works

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem was asking why Atticus thought Mrs. Dubose was a great lady, and he said, “I wanted you to see something about her--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 you see it through no matter what” (128). Atticus said this because Mrs. Dubose was not taking her pain pills, even though she was in a lot of pain, so even though she knew she had a small chance of winning, she continued. Later in the novel, Atticus took the case to defend Tom Robinson, and even though he knew he would not win because the jury was racist, he still tried his best. Additionally, the poem, “If”, writes, “If you can make one heap of all you winnings/ And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,/ And lose, and start again at your beginnings/ And never breathe a word about your loss” (Kipling). When Atticus was asked to defend Tom, he knew that it was a risk, but he still defended him, even though he knew people would not support him. When Tom was guilty, he had lost a lot, but he never complained that it was not a fair trial. Therefore, Atticus demonstrated courage in To Kill A

In society today, these characteristics are becoming less important. Although some people demonstrate these traits, they are not as well known. Society is not very virtuous, and most people try to be popular. Most people try to become popular rather than do the right thing. Also, people are not as patient. When someone is disrespectful, less people are patient, and more people try to fight or argue. Finally, a lot of people are not very courageous in our society. Society tries to take less risks because they do not want to face any consequences, even if taking the risk is the right thing to do. To conclude, these traits are not very well represented in society, even though they are very