Atticus Finch Pacifism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Atticus Finch is a perceptive character and an empathetic father whose morals help the people of Maycomb and the readers of the novel realize that being a pacifist is better that following the social norm. One such example if his benevolence is when Scout came into their house, being frustrated with the Maycomb rule that children shouldn’t learn to read at an early age. Listening to her trouble, Atticus only taught her a simple trick: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from [their] point of view [. . .] until you climb into his skin and walk around it” (Lee 33). This theme helped Scout realize that by being solicitous and by looking at the different guises under the skin of people, she should learn to respect and to cope up with the others. Subsequently, Atticus also showed the true personalities of the men who tried to lynch Tom Robinson by following the Southern norm, that the white people reign supreme. When Scout was perplexed by that incident, Atticus explained that a “mob’s always made of people” and that “a gang of wild animals can be stopped, simply because they’re still human” (Lee 179). Atticus showed to Scout that people are people no matter what malevolent actions they have taken; and that Scout has to …show more content…
Miss Maudie, who had already learned of Atticus’s true nature, explained that their father is “civilized in his heart” and that “he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things” (Lee 112). Atticus did not only influence his children, but he also persuaded the other people of Maycomb just through his actions that pacifism defeats conflict. Atticus educated to the townspeople and the readers of “To Kill a Mockingbird” that being empathetic will help in changing the society for the betterment of the