Normality Of Man In To Kill A Mockingbird

“I admire men of character and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates. And that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is” (General. H. Norman Schwarzkopf). Seeing how men deal with others, who are supposedly lower ranked than them, shows their true character. Atticus is known around town as a great lawyer in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. One specific case was given to Atticus to defend a black man against a white girl. During this time period, African Americans were looked down upon based on their race. Atticus knew he would not win because many members on the jury were racist, but he dedicated a lot of time to the case anyway; therefore,

Atticus was given an impossible case to win, but he dedicated a majority of his time on the case. “This case, Tom Robinson 's case, is something that goes to the essence of a man 's conscience — Scout, I couldn 't go to church and worship God if I didn 't try to help that man” (104). This quote truly portrays Atticus’s character and mindset. During this time period, not many other lawyers would feel this way about that particular case. Atticus’s implies that he would not be able to carry on with his life without helping Tom Robinson and that he wanted to help Tom walk away a free man. He went against popular beliefs during that time, to defend Tom Robinson. A few of the civilians of the town, did not agree with Atticus’s mindset, and would call him harsh and rude names, but Atticus did not let the name-calling bother or stop him. “ ‘You aren’t really a nigger-lover, then are you?’ ‘I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody...I’m hard put, sometimes-baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you”(108). Scout was asking Atticus about being a nigger-lover, and he explained to her that it is only an insult if she lets it bother her. Name- calling also shows how poor of a person the name caller is. In the courtroom, Atticus made an impact on the jury, but it just was not enough. “ I waited and waited to see you all come down the sidewalk, and as I waited I thought, Atticus Finch won’t win, he can’t win, but he’s the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that. And I thought to myself, well, we’re making a step-it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step” (216). Atticus made at least a small impression on the jury even though the case was a lost cause to begin with. With any other lawyer, the jury would not have listened as well, but they