Examples Of Atticus Finch Heroism In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the main characters, Atticus Finch, is portrayed as a true hero. The courage he shows in the novel by standing up against his own town demonstrates his heroism. His unconventional parenting style and the values he models to his children is another one of his heroic qualities. However, even with all of this. his faith in humanity is still greatly criticized.

Atticus Finch shows heroism through his courage to defend a helpless person from a racist and sexist society, and to prevent a major injustice. He sacrifices his time, effort, and safety to defend a black man in court, which in this time period was an extremely dangerous venture. While everyone in town turned their backs to the defendant

He insists to his children that seeing another's point of view when at all possible has a great importance. “‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’” (39). Atticus teaches an important message of perspective to show Jem and Scout one of the many values that has proven to be an asset in his life. Later when he announced that he will be defending Tom Robinson, Atticus received disapproval from most of the townspeople. He predicted that Jem and Scout would be exposed to some negative treatment because of this reaction so he once again, offered powerful advice. He advised them to turn the other cheek and avoid throwing punches, a request that bothered Scout, but with which she tried to comply because of her respect for her father. “‘Too proud to fight, you n----r-lovin’ b-----d?’ ‘No, too old,’ Atticus replied before putting his hands in his pockets and walking away” (291). Atticus opens the children’s eyes to the impact it has to remain composed and simply “walk away.” Finally, because Atticus always gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, his faith in human nature is one of his strongest characteristics. “A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard,

After Atticus was spit on by Bob Ewell earlier in the novel, he still believed that they did not “‘have anything to fear from Bob Ewell, he got it all out of his system that morning’” (293). His trust in humanity left him vulnerable to an attack from Bob Ewell, who took advantage of Atticus’s good nature and went after his children. Unbeknownst to Jem and Scout, their guardian Arthur Radley, leaped to their rescue, causing a struggle between Bob Ewell and the victims. Finally, the brawl ended with Bob Ewell left dead. Atticus insisted that the town should know of the events that occurred. “…nobody’s hushing this up. I don’t live that way’” (365). This simple statement shows Atticus’s morals and values. However, it is then that Atticus makes the most difficult and heroic decision. He goes against everything he believes in about honesty and speaking the truth in order to protect Arthur Radley. Mr. Heck Tate explained to Atticus that “‘…taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight – to me, that’s a sin’” (369). With that, Atticus realized that if the events of the night were to be announced to the town Arthur would gain too much attention for such a fragile person to handle. Atticus had to put his beliefs