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Why Is Atticus Finch Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In the well-known novel To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the lead characters, Atticus Finch, shares an iconic life lesson: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” (pg. 30.) Atticus is wise lawyer and father of two children where throughout the book he demonstrates what a mature, empathetic, and intelligent man he is. In this story Atticus is assigned a black man to defend in court, at a place in history when it was not acceptable for a white male to defend an African American male accused of rape charges on a white girl. As Harper Lee possibly foreshadows his case with Tom Robinson, Atticus is telling his children that you cannot judge someone by what is said about them or what might be the socially acceptable impression towards a group of people. Atticus teaches his children and community that it is not fair to judge someone if you cannot truly relate to what they have been through/go through. …show more content…

For example, immigrants from Mexico have been discriminated against because they are “taking American jobs” from US citizens. This problem has not been relevant or acknowledged much until the 2016 presidential election. When considering To Kill A Mockingbird and the prejudice towards African Americans in their community, it relates to a lot of prejudice situations in today’s times. Other controversial topics such as transgenderism, the LGBTQ community, women’s rights, and islamophobia all relate to a group of people that have been oppressed and falsely stereotyped in some

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458 Words | 2 Pages

Harper Lee once wrote, “You never really understand a person until you consider their things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” The novel To Kill A Mockingbird was placed during the culturally segregated U.S. from the 1950s through the 1970s. Atticus Finch a white lawyer defends Tom a black man who has been wrongly accused of raping his girlfriend, Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch a fictional character uses ethos, pathos, and logos in his closing arguments in defense of Tom. To begin Atticus uses ethos to show that his argument is far more credible than the Platiff’s due to the lack of evidence on the opposing side.

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599 Words | 3 Pages

In his closing speech to the jury Atticus expressed his perspective on Tom Robinson’s case and the prejudice against all black people. He explains to the jury “... some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men…” (Lee, page 204). He believes all people make mistakes, everyone is human, and that no race is superior than another because of skin colour.

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443 Words | 2 Pages

Ultimately, Atticus had an acceptable course of action based on the evidence shown. Atticus Finch became a part of a very controversial court case, and tried his best to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, even though he knew it would be tough to win. On page 274, Atticus says, “ Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” In other words, Atticus believes that for the court system to be fair, it requires all evaluees to remember that all men are created equal no matter what their skin color looks like. During this time period, racism was very strong and sided with the whites.

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762 Words | 4 Pages

In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Author Harper Lee, in her novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, depicts a court trial in which Atticus Finch, a Maycomb County lawyer, attempts to defend an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, who was falsely accused of rape and beating by a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Finch’s purpose is to prove Tom’s innocence to the court and avoid an inaccurate conviction. He adopts a deliberate tone in order to rule the jury’s speculation in favor of Robinsons guiltlessness. Atticus begins his argument by contrasting social moralities versus actual law.

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546 Words | 3 Pages

The judge, John Taylor, gave Atticus the job to defend Tom Robison, a colored man who was accused of raping a white woman, because Atticus was the only lawyer who do a good job of defending him. Bob Ewell, the father of the woman who was “raped” despised Atticus for making the decision to defend Tom. While Bob and others in the community are making comments about Atticus, and even giving him threats, Atticus is the bigger person and just goes along as it doesn’t offend him. By letting all the mean comments fly by,

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916 Words | 4 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus believes Maycomb is unjust because the town is inconsiderate of other people’s view, which is shown when Atticus gets targeted for defending a black man, worries that his kids will become bitter and catch Maycomb’s disease, and Aunt Alexandra advising Atticus that he is raising his kids wrong. To begin with, Mrs Dubose addresses to Scout and her family about how Atticus is disgracing his race and his color by defending Tom Robinson on the alleged rape case. Mrs Dubose says, “Your father’s no better than the ni**ers and trash he works for” (135). Atticus views Maycomb as an injustice town because during this time period black people were seen as a lower class. Atticus is mark as an overall victim because in the trial the county is shocked that Atticus is

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261 Words | 2 Pages

Atticus fights for Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white girl. Although Atticus gets backlash for defending Robinson, he continues to fight for equality. When he speaks to the jury he says, “... in our courts all men are created equal” (274). By using a stern tone, Atticus makes it clear that he expects a fair trial for Robinson and that he should not be discriminated against due to his race. In addition, he states that “when

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1119 Words | 5 Pages

Though people are fond of Atticus himself, his decision to aim for Tom Robinson’s justice causes discomfort, “ ‘Lemme tell you somethin’ now, Billy’ a third said, ‘you know the court appointed him to defend this nigger.’ ‘Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it” (186). The quote exposes that everyone understand the fact that he is assigned to the case but do not understand as to why he is so intent on proving a black man’s innocence. Since Atticus exceedingly expresses his thought on Tim’s innocence and involves so much of himself in the case with a black person, he obtains negative feedback and gets called a nigger-lover.

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461 Words | 2 Pages

In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Two children Scout and Jem live in a small town called Maycomb. Mixed with tons of different people where Jem and Scout learn to not judge someone by their living style, color of their skin, what they look like etc. They also learn the importance of right and wrong and how it is important to be taught by family, peers, and even their environment. Harper Lee states that “ you really don’t understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (pg 39). This quote is very important because in this part of the novel, Atticus is teaching Scout (and Jem) that judging someone by their color of their skin, how they act, their living style, and etc is a part of “doing the right thing vs doing the wrong thing’’ Like inequality, Tom Robinson was accused of being guilty of rape because of what he looked like.

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1126 Words | 5 Pages

Despite all of the racism and segregation our country is experiencing today; America has come a long way since the cases Plessy vs Ferguson and Brown vs Board of Education took place. These cases regulated the way America views segregation, we wouldn’t be where we are today without them. They’ve changed segregation laws, changed courts view points of amendments, and changed American history forever. This revolution began with Plessy vs Ferguson.

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525 Words | 3 Pages

Atticus is one of the main characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird” who defines courage and bravery by attempting to do something that seems nearly impossible. He decides to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of assaulting and raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. By taking this case,

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865 Words | 4 Pages

Many people forget the simplistic and common values that their child selves once held; values such as innocence and bliss, which children have always had since humans have walked the Earth. Their inability to see the harsher side of life has inspired many tales and exciting adventures from their point of view, which always adds an interesting way of thinking about the world. People so often lose this innocence that they fail to see and admire some of the things only kids can see. This much and more is most certainly true of Jean Louise Finch, the narrator and main character of Harper Lee’s famous book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Jean Louise, also known as Scout in the story, has many admirable qualities as a kid because she has the ability to think beyond herself and shows courage to the people around her.

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693 Words | 3 Pages

Atticus Finch was a lawyer that had to be exploitive if he wanted to win cases. When he gave a closing argument for the case of Tom Robinson, he had to find a way to persuade his audience. Instead of making his speech specifically about Tom Robinson, Atticus stated that some people of a race may lie, but that is true for all humans, no matter what the color of their skin is. Atticus said that, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” (Lee, 30). He believed that you shouldn’t judge someone’s actions until

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1163 Words | 5 Pages

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”(Lee 30). These are the words of Atticus Finch, the wisest character in the famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a fictional man that embodies human traits that all people should strive to emulate. In the novel; narrated by Atticus’ daughter Jean Louise Finch, more often referred to as Scout; Atticus defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white female, Mayella Ewell. The main message of the text is the prominence of racial injustice, specifically in the 1930’s, the era the novel takes place in.

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