Serai Goodson
Mrs. Roberts
English II
9 May 2012
Atticus
A father and loyal citizen of Maycomb has made it his duty to prove Tom Robinsons innocence. Something the morally corrupt people of Maycomb have been too afraid to do. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee depicts Atticus as a committed and wise character.
Atticus Finch has stayed committed to defending Tom Robinson, a black man, who is looked at as an outcast to society. It was news to the people of Maycomb as to why Atticus was representing Tom Robinson. “The court appointed Atticus to defend him. Atticus aimed to defend him. That’s what they didn’t like about it. It was confusing’’ (218). His daughter was also confused about his decision; she asks him “If you shouldn’t be defending him, then why you doing it?” (100). Atticus response was “if I didn’t I couldn’t hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (100). This shows the reader how willing Atticus is to represent this case with integrity no matter how odd it may seem.
After getting the news that Tom Robinson has been sentenced to death, Atticus provides his children with words of wisdom. His son Jem is upset about the outcome of the case and speaks openly about it to his father. The children have been very attentive during this case so they feel very strongly about it. As Jem speaks to his father he says “You can’t just convict a man on evidence like that – you can’t” (295). Atticus response was “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it --- whenever a white man does that to a black man not matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” (295). This essentially gives Jem a sense of reality and teaches him not to be an advocate of such behavior.
In the community of Maycomb filled with unjust...