In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Atticus Finch is a character who hides his emotions in the shadows, but they can still be seen through his actions. Lee works quietly to introduce the character to the reader. The way Atticus feels about something is not always something that is given to you directly. This comes into play as the reader is deciding how they will judge Atticus Finch’s parenting skills. Is Atticus’s reserved nature a legitimate reason to question his parenting skills.
Atticus, as a parent, is not absent or faulty in any way. He is not overbearing, nor is he controlling. He lets his children learn their lessons their own way, even if it is the hard way. And though he does this, this is not to say his liberal beliefs do not rub off on the children’s. Along with that, he sets his feelings of haste aside, so his moments of anger do not affect his children. An example of this is when Atticus is explaining to Jem the reasons behind Mr. Cunningham’s hateful actions. Atticus explains, “Mr. Cunningham is basically a good man, he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us” (Lee 179). After such a nerve wrecking experience, he should have been hastily
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“I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Atticus explains to Jem about it being a sin killing mockingbirds, because they are just simply hear to make music for people and do no harm. By him telling Jem this it lets the reader know that he wants his children to make smart decisions, even though he knows what they are going to try to do. Atticus shows that he understands how what he wants of his children to do might not always happen, so he tells Jem that he understands he will shot birds but made Jem know that it is a sin and he will be disappointed in him for shooting one if he