Why Is Atticus Finch Wrong

Throughout history, we’ve seen countless examples of self sacrifice for the moral high ground. However, Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, wastes his energy in doing so. Atticus Finch, a middle-aged lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama, takes the impossible case of defending Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman and faced with a death sentence. The whole book centers around the year leading up to and after the trial, taking place during the Great Depression. Although Finch put up a good fight, he wasted his time trying to save Tom’s life. Throughout the novel, his children, Jeremy (Jem) and Jean Louise (Scout), as well as himself, are subject to bullying, threats and violence by accepting this case. Atticus Finch was wrong in taking the Tom Robinson case for three reasons: He endangered his children's’ well being, overworked himself for nothing, and lost respect from the community.

They were assaulted and emotionally manipulated by people who disagreed with their father. As evidenced by cousin Francis, “ ‘He’s [Atticus] nothin’ but a nigger lover!’ (Lee 110)”, children in the neighborhood believe her father’s case is a source of shame and bully Scout for it. Atticus is causing his children social strain; putting a physical and literal target on their heads. In the last few chapters of the book, a stranger attacks Jem and Scout while walking home one night. The perpetrator, later found dead under a tree, was a grudgeful neighbor. This was not a mistake, or a threat; this was an attempted murder, shown by the passage on page 357: “ ‘Bob Ewell’s lyin’ on the ground under that tree down yonder with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs. He’s dead, Mr. Finch.’ (Lee 357)” The knife is later found to be Bob’s. If it weren’t for a neighbor who saved their lives, both Jem and Scout would be dead, all because of Atticus’ lack of