Atticus Father

As the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee unfolds, the reader watched Scout and Jem grow up, mature and broaden their perspectives. Their father, Atticus, was not only a single parent, but also a friend, role model and teacher to his children. Hence, this may suggest why Scout and Jem called him “Atticus” instead of “Father”. Throughout the novel, the children encountered many different and difficult barriers, challenging Maycomb’s standards and meres. As a result, Jem and Scout unearthed the importance of upholding one’s integrity and the power of empathy, through the lessons taught by Atticus’ wise words and admirable actions. Ironically, school was not the place the children did most of their learning, but instead from a myriad of …show more content…
A simple act of empathy has the ability to change one’s views and thus their attitude. The ability to empathise is, metaphorically, being able to put yourself in other’s shoe and then understanding their action. The opposite of this is ignorance, which is displayed multiple times in the novel by portraying the dangers of racial discrimination in society. Refusing to let go of their ignorance, people in Maycomb blindly concluded that Tom was guilty, purely because of his skin colour. The Ewells represented the class of people who conjectured that the “black” people were inferior. Witnessing Atticus defending Tom, Scout observed the rational and logical evidence put forward by Atticus. Despite this, Tom was erroneously persecuted and sent to jail. From this case, Scout learnt not to judge people but rather, empathise with and look for the goodness in …show more content…
The young children started off naïve and gullible, believing rumours that spread around Maycomb. As the story progressed, Atticus advised Jem and Scout to “climb into their (others) skin” and understand how other people perceived the world. This benevolent action was clearly illustrated through the case of Mrs Dubose. Mrs Dubose was an intriguing character who was prejudged by the children. As a person who was recovering from drug addiction, she was an impudent and malicious woman. When she insulted Atticus, Jem reciprocated by destroying the flowers in her front yard. Thus, he was forced by Atticus to read to her every day. Jem complained to his father that Mrs Dubose was a lonely, awful woman, but in return, Atticus told Jem and Scout to try and empathise with her. Stubborn, the children did not realise that she was fighting against morphine addiction to retrieve her sobriety again. It was not until Mrs Dubose died that Atticus revealed her tragic story to the children. In that moment, Jem and Scout were struck by realisation and discovered that she was in fact a brave and strong woman.
Despite many encounters with challenges that forced the children to put themselves in other’s shoes, Scout did not learn it until the final chapter. This chapter is where Scout finally gets to meet her childhood ‘monster’, who is in fact a ‘hero’. Standing on the Radley’s porch, Scout realised that “Atticus was right.”