Atticus Finch Honesty

Atticus Finch was a Mockingbird of his kind, as he continued to stand up for what he believed in, with dexterity. Atticus taught Jem and Scout lessons as a father should and answered any question with honesty. In the novel Lee illuminates Atticus’s class as she wrote, “...Miss Stephanie said Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out his handkerchief and wiped and stood there and let Mr. Ewell call him names wild horses could not bring her to repeat” (291). Lee added the line to form an indirect characterization about Atticus's class. Atticus was not willing to lower himself to Bob Ewell’s level, the best way to get back at Mr. Ewell was to say nothing at all. In Atticus’s mind, he always made sure he set an example for his children. He believed …show more content…
Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em, No,” (Lee 116). In this line Atticus is explaining to Jack who had no children, how kids minds think. Adolescents pick up on things, such as sugar coating the actual answers to their questions. Scout always went to Atticus for questions because she trusted him to give her a straightforward answer, a bond that many children and their fathers do not have. Jem and Scout both looked up to Atticus and his kindness during the Tom Robinson case. Atticus became Tom Robinson's defense attorney, he joined his case even though he knew Tom wouldn’t win because of his race. Lee paints this picture when Scout asks Atticus why he was defending Tom. “‘For a number of reasons,’ said Atticus. “The main one is, 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 tell you or Jem not to do something again.” (Lee 100). By including this line it shows displays how Atticus had to take the job no one wanted. He couldn’t tell Tom no because he wouldn’t be able to tell his children to do something they didn’t want to do. Atticus Finch was very conscious of his