Examples Of Atticus Finch Heroism In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mocking Bird written by Harper Lee encompasses many different characters that contribute to the theme of the novel. One well known character who has a rather dominate role is Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch is the father of the narrator Scout and her brother Jem. Throughout To Kill A Mocking Bird Atticus strongly exhibits the characteristic of heroism. Heroism can be defined as having “great bravery” (Webster Dictionary 327). Atticus lives in Maycomb County, a very prejudice town southern of Alabama around the time of the Great Depression. Atticus has to take on the case of Tom Robinson, a young black man accused of raping a young white female. Atticus knows that taking this case on will result in some back lash from the fellow residents of Maycomb County, but Atticus is still persistent in helping and clearing Tom Robinson’s

Atticus Finch shows the reader how selfless he is even before the trial begins. In one instance Atticus puts himself in danger to kill a rabid dog in order to keep everyone else safe. Scout and Jem watch as their father takes “the gun and walk out into the middle of the street” (Lee 127). This is very dangerous because Atticus himself could have gotten hurt and rather than having someone else kill the dog he did it himself for the sake of keeping the others safe from harm. Of course this is not the only time Atticus shows how selfless he can be when he accepts the case of Tom Robinson. Atticus discusses with Scout that he had to take the case of Tom despite what anyone else said. One even scout comes home and ask Atticus if all lawyers have to defend Negroes and that Cecil Jacobs, a class member of Scout had made fun of how Atticus is defending a