Atticus Good Father

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird depicts Atticus Finch as a good father to his children due to his sense of fairness, his teaching, and his honesty. Atticus depicts fairness by treating his children and all others with respect and understanding. He teaches his children important life lessons and prepares them for when they go out into the world, and he sets a good example by always being honest. To be a good father, these are three very important qualities to possess.

It is rare to find a courageous and sympathetic person who is willing to stand against social injustice. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus represents this rare hero. He is a lawyer and a single parent to his kids Jem and Scout. He understands that society should not be black and white and helps those who are mistreated. Not only does Atticus demonstrate acts of courage and empathy, he is also an excellent role model to his children. Atticus represents the qualities of a true hero by exposing injustice, and through courageous and sympathetic activities, teaching his children moral values.

Atticus’s son, Jem, finds trouble with Mrs. Dubose; this caused a change in her character. Jem becomes angry with Mrs. Dubose because of her comments about Atticus to him and Scout; out of anger Jem “cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves” (103). When Atticus became aware of Jem’s actions he sent him down the street to apologize to Mrs. Dubose for what he had done. As a punishment, Mrs. Dubose asked that Jem to come to her home and read to her every day for a month. As asked Jem did bringing Scout along each day. After a month had went by Jem was asked to continue coming to read to her. Jem was not a fan of the idea but he did not want to disappoint Atticus so he did as he told him. Later, after Mrs. Dubose passes away, Jem is informed of why the reading was important to Mrs. Dubose. She had a morphine addiction and reading to her was helping her to break her habit. Jem

Atticus is a wise father and helps his children accept people no matter how they look or act. This is evident when he says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (Lee 33). Throughout the novel, Jem and Scout mature at different paces. Atticus guides his children as they begin to grow and mature. “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem.” “No son, It’s not right.” (Lee 243). When Atticus lost the case, Jem expressed how he felt. He had tears on his face. Here was a turning point for Jem because he was old enough to understand the case. Atticus comforted him and agreed it was not right. Atticus shows affection towards his children when they saved him from trouble with “the mob”. “As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem’s hair, his one gesture of affection.” (Lee 176). At first, Atticus may have been frustrated with his children being at the office. Then, their innocence saved him. Atticus has many characteristics and is a loving father. Atticus displays a valuable lesson about equality and fairness for his children.

(Lee 133). This quote shows how rude Mrs.Dubose could be to Atticus’s children, but Atticus is still kind to her, and he sees the courage that Mrs.Dubose has, and tries to show Jem too. After Jem finishes his month of reading to her, Atticus tells Jem the real reason that Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose. Atticus informs Jem that “‘I wanted you to see what real courage is’” (Lee 149).

Mrs. Alexandra, from my understanding, a good parent is one who creates a safe nurturing environment for a child to grow up in, displays characteristics of a positive role model, and is an active part of a child’s life. (Atticus, look at Scout and Jem affectionately ) Good parents provide moral guidance, sets limitations, and implements consequences for a child’s behavior. (Atticus, use a ruler and slap it in your hand looking at Scout and Jem symbolizing a Spanking as punishment) Atticus is a very effective parent to Scout and Jem. I know he is constantly working; but rest assured, his children are his primary concern and he loves them very much. (Atticus, hug Scout and Jem or do something showing your love <3) Atticus finds time for his

Dubose wants Jem to come read to her even though Mrs. Dubose clearly despises him. However through Mrs. Dubose Lee provides the reader with evidence as to why it is incorrect to form impressions of people hastily without thought and consideration. Lee does so by revealing that Mrs. Dubose was not necessarily as vicious as the reader first thinks. In fact she asks that Jem read to her, and he does so every day for an entire month. However Jem continues to strongly dislike her because she still continues to criticize him and his family; however, he persists. Despite his personal hatred for Mrs. Dubose, Jem battles his emotions and continues going to read to her. Jem learns from Atticus that Mrs. Dubose passed away and she had left him a camellia flower inside the candy box she gave him; his initial reaction is one of utter confusion and he is unable to understand the reason behind her actions because he had always believed that Mrs. Dubose disliked him. He is surprised when she leaves him something. Atticus explains to Jem that Mrs.Dubose was a morphine addict and her erratic behavior was a result of withdrawals. Jem never knew this, and this information overwhelms him both physically and emotionally. What Jem thought he had seen on the outside as bitter hate and anger was in reality just a thin layer of pain, which was hiding the true strength and courage, which she had within her. Mrs. Dubose had

Dubose dies Atticus is trying to teach Jem a lesson about courage, Atticus uses Mrrs. Dubose as an example, she is a sick cranky old lady who later dies. After Mrs. Dubose dies Atticus tells Jem, “ I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real change is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won… to her views she died beholden to nothing and nobody.”(149) What Atticus means to say is that courage is standing up to what you believe in, Mrs. Dubose was always saying negative things about Atticus and his case with Tom Robinson, the black man. Atticus shows Jem that courage is not strength, it is about standing up to what you believe in. It is a rare quality to have but a great to know when something big is going to

Dubose, an elderly woman, is very influential to Scout’s maturity by teaching her about real courage. Mrs. Dubose has an addiction to morphine and wants to die without having any of it in her system. She has Jem and Scout read to her as a distraction from her suffering. Atticus wants Scout to go with Jem to read, so that she would be able to understand what real courage and perseverance is. “I wanted you to see something about her—I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.

Dubose, one of our neighbors, certainly was a very peculiar woman. She was very old, and seemed very mean and stingy to Jem and I. She also insulted Atticus on numerous occasions for his standing in the trial, and that made Jem so furious that he “cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubosed owned”(103). Of course, when Atticus found out about this, there were consequences. Jem was to “come every afternoon after school and Saturdays and read to her aloud for two hours”(105). I chose to go with Jem, just so that he wouldn’t be alone, but that was not the only reason as I soon would find out. I realized that “each day we had been staying a little longer at Mrs. Dubose’s, and that she was well into one of her fits by the time it sounded”(109). At the time, I didn’t understand why this was the case, and neither did Jem. However, Atticus later explained to us that Mrs. Dubose “was a morphine addict”(111). That drug was supposedly for pain, but before Mrs. Dubose died, “she said she meant to break herself of it”(111). Her effort of getting clean of the drug was not a useless one and she “die[d] free”(111). To this day, I still believe that Mrs. Dubose was a great woman, and that she truly knew what it meant to be

“I’d rather you shot 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.” In Harper Lee’s, To KiIl A Mockingbird, a family of three living in a town called Maycomb surpass the challenges that come, when your father is the only one that believes in equality for all in a town filled with racism, and injustice. This father’s name is Atticus Finch. He believes everyone deserves equality no matter wha. Through many challenges that Atticus faces he shows continuously that he is a good father. Let’s take a look.

More than that, he teaches his kids to carry on the morals he values. In Chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose talks bad about Atticus due to the fact that he is defending Tom’s case. Jem gets very upset by Mrs.Dubose insults on Atticus so he cuts Mrs.Dubose camellia plants. Because of his actions, Atticus gets upset and makes Jem read to Mrs.Dubose. Jem comes to find out that Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addiction and that Atticus made him read to her as an effort to defeat her addiction.

In some aspects, Atticus is a poor example of being a good parent but in others, he is a good parent, since he does not care a lot for his kids but he still is being a good role model, which is described when his kids got into trouble, others spent more time with them than he did, but he still loves his kids and teaches them the truth. One example of why Atticus is a bad parent is because when Scout got in trouble from fighting with Francis, she “ran to Atticus for comfort, but he said she had it coming and it was high time that we went home” (Lee pg 112). After Aunt Alexandra and Uncle Jack got mad at Scout for calling Francis not so nice names, Scout ran to her dad. Instead of comforting her and asking what her side of the story was, he

In the past century, there have been many great novels written. One of which is Harper Lee's, 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. In the novel it introduces a prominent character who not only was a good father but also a well respected, and compassionate man. This person is Atticus Finch. Through all the struggles and pressures, he stands strong as a very positive father figure, making sure to educate his children with important values including equality, bravery, and knowledge.

After his time spent in punishment with Mrs. Dubose, she passes away. Atticus, Jem’s father, explains to Jem that Mrs. Dubose was struggling to quit using morphine and didn’t want to die addicted. “According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody.” said Atticus (pg.149). With his new understanding of Mrs. Dubose he felt differently about his actions.