Atticus Finch

Character Analysis on Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird



Abraham Lincoln once said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”   Atticus Finch, a character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, must keep this quote in his mind day by day.   Atticus is a lawyer who was born and raised in Maycomb County.   He still lives there with his children, Jeremy (also known as Jem) and Jean Louise (also known as Scout).   His sister Alexandra lives with him, and a Negro cook named Calpurnia comes to his house everyday. Atticus is a very wise, courageous, and helpful person; he shows these traits not just in special cases, but in his everyday life.

  Firstly, Atticus is helpful person in his everyday life.   Even though Aunt Alexandra moves in Atticus keeps Calpurnia, and I think he is being very helpful in this act.   Aunt Alexandra can do all of the things Calpurnia can do, but if he were to dismiss Calpurnia she wouldn’t have an income and it would be very difficult for her.   Atticus is also very helpful by sending Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose.   If Jem wouldn’t have had read to her she might have died a morphine addict, but because of Atticus making Jem go she dies free.   Another helpful act of Atticus is going to the county jail and staying there to help protect Tom.   If Atticus hadn’t have done this then the angry group from Old Sarum may have threatened Tom or even killed him.   With this help Atticus lets Tom survive.    

Secondly, Atticus is very wise in the decisions he makes.   On Scouts first day of school her teacher tells her to stop reading.   I think it is very wise of Atticus to let her keep reading because she will get ahead in life if she does so.   This bargain Atticus makes with his daughter shows his wisdom through his parenting skills also.   Being a single parent, he has to teach his kids what is right from wrong, and he knows if he subjects his daughter to not being able to read it is wrong.   I think it is...