Comparing Atticus Finch And The Road

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To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story about Atticus Finch and his two kids, Jem and Scout, dealing with racism in their hometown of Maycomb when Atticus chooses to defend a man of color.The Road by Cormac McCarthy is about a father and son surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. Each novel has a strong father figure who is brave or courageous, no matter the circumstance, as well as he is kind to everyone, regardless of who or what they are. Atticus Finch is the better of the two father figures because of his empathetic nature and his devotion to Kindness is something that differs greatly in both Atticus and the Man. Atticus’ kindness is brought upon because of his empathetic nature towards those he meets, whereas most of the Man’s kindness is based on situations, or after his son has been compassionate to someone, like with Ely. An example of the Man’s kindness towards others is shown when him and his son come across Ely. The Man wants nothing to do with Ely as the boy immediately tries to give something to keep Ely going. When asked about it, the Man tells Ely how he wouldn’t have given him anything and that it was the boy who gave him the food. He goes on to say that he’s “not sure [he] does” (McCarthy 173), understand why his son is so …show more content…

Atticus shows courage by defending Tom Robinson in court and by going so far as to defend his life as he sleeps in a jail cell. Atticus’ motivation for all of this is his wanting for wanting his kids from “Catching Maycomb’s usual disease” (Lee 117) of prejudice and racism, seeing that if he doesn’t take this risk and give it everything he’s got, he can do nothing to keep his children from becoming like the rest of the town. Atticus’ devotion to keep his children with open-minds drives his courage to the point where he puts himself between a mob of Maycomb’s hateful racist folks and the man that he is