Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Who in To Kill a Mockingbird is a good father, a good lawyer and a good citizen? Atticus is a great father in many ways. One example would be his style of discipline, meaning that he tries to lead Scout and Jem through a discussion to see what it is that they have done wrong and why it is wrong. As a lawyer, during the case of Tom Robinson, Atticus does all that he could to prove Tom’s innocence’s. Lastly, as a good citizen, Atticus is known to be very respectful, like when he helps Ms.Dubose with her addiction. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch’s influence on his daughter Scout is made clear through the importance he places on education, the admirable ways he practices law, and through his effective interactions with Maycomb residents. Atticus Finch’s influence on his daughter Scout is made clear through the importance he places on education. After Scouts first day of school, she complained to Atticus of how the teac her argued that the both of them should no longer read together, so then she no longer would need to go to school. Atticus decided to change Scouts thinking by encouraging her and saying â€Å"If you’ll concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have.† Atticus perspective of this was to prove to Scout that no one should interfere of what you want to do or have been doing, as long as you feel it is right. During the course of the case proceedings of Tom Robinson, it was a difficult time period for the Finches but Atticus warned Scout that if even if she hears anything about it in school, she should do him a favor and â€Å"You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ’em get your goat? An educational view on this would be that as Scout being a student she must be determined in order to achieve her goals. While at the trial , during Atticus closing argument he pointed out that â€Å"The most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run pu blic education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious- because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority.†. Atticus view of this would be that ‘men are created equal’ and so just as the stupid are treated the same as the smart students, the blacks should be treated the same way as the white citizens, and so in conclusion it results that Atticus puts great value on education. Atticus Finch’s influence on his daughter Scout is made clear through the admirable ways he practices law. Author, Harper Lee included a saying on â€Å"There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white always wins. They’re ugly, but these are the facts of life†. This speech that Atticus said was to show Scout how much racism goes on in the town of Maycomb. In this case it was to prove that any conflict that may happen between a black man and a white man, the white man would always win so no matter what there would alway s be a racist person. According to Atticus, â€Å"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.† When Scout had complained about her first day at school and how Miss Caroline treated her, Atticus advised Scout to get to know her and let her learn more about the Maycomb ways before she makes judgments on her. Atticus was currently teaching Scout empathy, this is a quite a difficult task because people live their lives through their own understanding and only become open-minded when they see something from another person’s view. This quote is compared to Atticus during the court trial with Tom Robinson, he knew that his client was a black man but he did not judge his client based on his color and agreed to defend him. This puts an influence to Scout that you should judge anyone under any circumstance.