Harper Lee’s purpose in describing Atticus the way he does in To Kill A Mockingbird is directly used to convey the theme in the story. As Atticus is described as being one who does not judge or think differently about people based on their race, gender, or religious beliefs it is used by the author to establish the theme of innocence. This comes as Atticus is just so kind to everyone around him, no matter their background, it even has Miss Maudie even talking about him as being just so consistent and holding no grudges and due to the author making Atticus be seen this way it shows off the theme of innocence as when Atticus will defend a black man in court and Scout gets picked on at school she does not understand why due to her innocence. She …show more content…
As a result of Atticus not seeing them different than anyone else, while the kids are so curious that they try to break into the Radley’s privacy it is not until Atticus tells the kids they, “were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Pg 96) Due to this incident and Atticus not punishing them, the kids start seeing how someone looks can be totally different than who they truly are as the Radley’s got a bad reputation, but then after the fire everyone starts changing how they see the family as now being very kind and respectful bringing the Radley’s to look very innocent and certainly not the same reputation as they had previously gotten. Lastly, innocence in the story comes from the way the author describes Atticus as when the whole family is together in chapter nine Atticus is seen as being one who wants or expects things from his kids but is not one who punishes them, as he wants Scout to stop cussing but will not punish her and says she will grow out of it but the Uncle insists she can not, “use words like that except in ex-extreme provocation” (Pg