Atticus Admirable Father

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus is the single father of Jem and Scout. He is very influential to them and their path to maturing throughout this novel. One could argue that Atticus has made mistakes, even though overall he is an admirable father. Atticus is a very admirable father in the ways that he teaches his children valuable life lessons. He teaches them mainly by doing it himself so he is showing them how to act instead just telling them. One of the biggest things he demonstrates to his children is courage. He does this when he takes up the case Tom Robinson. Atticus defends Tom when he is falsely convicted of rape. “ I wanted to show you what real courage is.”He says to Jem and Scout(Harper Lee,112). Atticus knows that he will …show more content…
One could say that he makes a bad decision not to act upon what actions Bob Ewell takes. Bob threatens Atticus on page 290(Harper Lee). Atticus doesn't do anything about this and just continues his life. Most other people in this novel suggest he carry a gun to protect himself, but he refuses. Also someone could argue that because he isn't a traditional father he still raised his kids well. He is “untraditional” in the way that he has Jem and Scout call him by his name and not dad or father. This could show someone that he and his kids are not close. This could also lead to a lack of respect from his children towards him. These could be reasons to claim he's not a good father. Atticus does his best to raise his children despite being a single parent. Atticus shows Jem and Scout how to act and treat people all on his own. He did have Calpurnia to help him around the house and with the kids, but he remained Jem and Scouts most influential figure. Through his actions he showed his kids how to be mature members of Maycomb. Atticus taught his kids how to have courage,respect and treat people right through life