Heck Tate Character Analysis

As I watched in silence when Mr, Heck Tate conversed with Atticus on the front porch of our house, I started to fathom the reasons behind why Mr. Tate wishes to keep this incident concealed. Throughout my life, I always perceived Atticus to be a man of justice, who can understand and assist any man in need. However, during the discussion between them, I observed his personality to be narrow minded and stubborn, which “was quiet and rarely evident, but… as set as the Cunninghams” (366). Furthermore, I noticed “his age was beginning to show, his one sign of inner turmoil” (383). At that instant, I understood Atticus’s reasons for being inflexible. He is one of the most mature people I know, and in turn has lost his innocence due to the harshness of the world. Therefore, as a lawyer, he argues for what is just and will adhere to it. Mr. Tate on the other hand, is the law in Maycomb, and, contradictory to being sheriff, he opposes Atticus’s views. However, since he has

Due to his introvertedness, he was not corrupted by the society of our town that was evil. He was innocent. Consequently, I finally realized the motives of Mr. Tate decision. Throughout the past few years in my life, I witnessed multiple people being mistreated even though they were innocent. They were, in a sense, “mockingbirds” being “killed” whenever they were confronted with evil. By keeping Boo safe inside his house, Mr. Tate is protecting him from the outside world and its prejudices. He is preserving Boo’s innocence by diminishing the incident that occurred. Once Mr. Tate left our household, I walked to Atticus as he requested me to believe that “Mr. Ewell fell on his knife” (370). I agreed with him and Mr. Tate because revealing Boo to Maycomb is “sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (470). After all, “who would sing their hearts out for us” (119) if they were no mockingbirds