Who Is Atticus A Hero

During the 1930’s, racial tension and discrimination had been widespread throughout the South. In the year before, the stock market had crashed, causing the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the Dust Bowl was also going on, affecting farmers and workers in the mid-east. Although life was already hard for many, Jim Crow Laws were created. They were laws written to segregate Blacks and Whites. However, there were many who rejected the idea of segregation and became what people consider a hero today. To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in the 1960’s. It tells the story of a young girl, named Scout, growing up during this time period. In the story, her father defies the Jim Crow Laws by defending an African American, named Tom Robinson.

Heck Tate decides to give the Tom Robinson case to Atticus because he believes that although he might not win it, the jury will actually think about the case before deciding their verdict. Atticus accepts the case because he felt as though he “couldn 't hold up [his] head in town” and that he “couldn 't represent [the] country in the legislature” (Lee 100). He acceptes the case to prove he is reliability. Another example of Atticus showing how reliable he is is when he is interrogating Mayella. She feels as though he is making fun of her. The judge reassures Mayella that Atticus has “done business in [the] court for years and years, and he is always courteous to everybody” (Lee 243). The judge implies that Atticus means no harm and is reliable because they have been working together for years. When Atticus thinks that Jem killed Ewell, he starts to panic. He starts to think of a good explanation and decides it was a “clear-cut self defense” (Lee 365). He thinks about how he is going to bring this to court. Instead of covering up the whole situation, he is trying to clear it up showing how reliable he