Atticus achieves all these great qualities while maintaining his integrity and moral principles. He is an amiable, and honest man who will always be there when you need him. In Lessons in Manliness From Atticus Finch, Brett and Kate McKay accurately describe Atticus as a man who is known to be “the same in his house as he is on public streets” (2). Atticus does not act differently with people outside of his house compared to when he's with his family. He has the same set of morals for his family as he does for others. Atticus also does what other people are afraid to do, and he is always giving people the benefit of the doubt. The most significant example in the book is Tom Robinson’s rape case. Tom Robinson, an African American, was accused of raping Mayella …show more content…
In the early 1930’s, when this book took place, racial discrimination was very common. Since Tom Robinson was a black man accused of rape, everybody in the town of Maycomb(where the book takes place) believed that Robinson was guilty. Atticus sadly explains to his kids that “when it's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee 295). The whole town knew Tom Robinson would lose the case, but Atticus being the man he was still had to try, so he chose to be the judge at his trial. Miss Maudie, a friend of Atticus, explains to Jem and Scout, “I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them” (Lee 288). Atticus tried his hardest in the case, but because of the racism in that time, Robinson was deemed guilty. Scout, Atticus’ daughter felt that Atticus knew he couldn’t win, but he still tried. She explains, “it was like watching Atticus walk into the street, raise a rifle to his shoulder and pull the trigger, but watching all the time knowing that the gun was