Eagerness to Win

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a very well-respected father, lawyer, and human being with his honest, courageous, and persevering attitude.   He lives in the town of Maycomb with his two very young children, Scout and Jem.   Because of his intelligence and wisdom, Atticus is respected by everyone in the town.   However, at the start of the novel, Jem and Scout do not consciously idolize their father, for they are embarrassed that he is not like the other fathers in that he enjoys reading at home instead of going out and hunting or fishing.   Though Atticus is very respected by the town, it is his admired conscience that causes a falling out when he is chosen in court to defend a black man against a white man’s word.   It is his children, subconsciously, that motivate him to still stand by his conscience and defend this man.   He wants to show them mora values.
“Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand.   It’s knowing 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” (149).   Atticus clearly knows that there is no way he could possibly win the trial, with the town of Maycomb being so prejudiced. He wanted ot make sure the town knew the truth about Tom Robinson, no matter how prejudiced they were.   Yet by defending him, he knew that it would make him an object of scorn and ridcule.   However, he knew that if he did not defend Tom Robinson, he could never live with himself, and his children would be learning that going with what others think is more important than sticking with your own morals. Standing up for what was right & showing his kids the right values was more important than what anyone ever thought of him.
Atticus also showed his children the fact that sometimes you have to step out of your moral ways in order to protect what is right.   Bob Ewell was stabbed by Boo Radley when he tried to attack Jem & Scout.   Atticus is faced with the decision with...