Most people will agree that good parenting is based on love, respect, support, authority and understanding. In order to have a good relationship with your child all those ideas are a necessity. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays Atticus Finch as the perfect father and man. He is seen to show all of these characteristics to his children inside the house, and out in public. He does have a weakness though that readers seem to overlook along with his many strengths that give his character so much credit .
Atticus Finch is not always the most authoritative figure for his children, and has a very naive outlook on life. Often times, Jem and Scout are left unsupervised, and although Atticus has a demanding job, he could still …show more content…
He teaches Scout and Jem courage by exposing them to the actions of other characters. For example, after Jem ruined Mrs. Dubose’s camellias, Atticus forced them to go read to her everyday after school for a month to make it up to her. Mrs. Dubose had been a morphine addict and was trying to break her habit before she died, which could be the reasoning for her mean personality. After Mrs. Dubose passed away, Atticus told Jem and Scout, “‘Courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what”’(112). The children had been with her on her good and bad days before she passed, so they were able to experience her courage with her whether they knew it at that point or not. Atticus is also a great example of courage through his own actions. He shows his own courage by simply taking on the Tom Robinson case. In a similar way to Mrs. Dubose’s situation, Atticus knew he probably wouldn’t win the case, but he still took it and tried his best although it might not have been in his best interest. When Scout asks why he took the case if he shouldn’t be defending Tom, Atticus replied, ‘“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”’(75). BY saying this it really shows what kind of a person Atticus truly is. He doesn’t have any other reasons for taking the case other than he wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t. This teaches Jem and Scout courage first hand by showing them to stand up for what they believe in no matter what the outcome might be. The courage that Atticus teaches through his actions and the actions of others might allow Scout and Jem to grow up and show the same courage throughout their
Atticus Finch is not always the most authoritative figure for his children, and has a very naive outlook on life. Often times, Jem and Scout are left unsupervised, and although Atticus has a demanding job, he could still …show more content…
He teaches Scout and Jem courage by exposing them to the actions of other characters. For example, after Jem ruined Mrs. Dubose’s camellias, Atticus forced them to go read to her everyday after school for a month to make it up to her. Mrs. Dubose had been a morphine addict and was trying to break her habit before she died, which could be the reasoning for her mean personality. After Mrs. Dubose passed away, Atticus told Jem and Scout, “‘Courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what”’(112). The children had been with her on her good and bad days before she passed, so they were able to experience her courage with her whether they knew it at that point or not. Atticus is also a great example of courage through his own actions. He shows his own courage by simply taking on the Tom Robinson case. In a similar way to Mrs. Dubose’s situation, Atticus knew he probably wouldn’t win the case, but he still took it and tried his best although it might not have been in his best interest. When Scout asks why he took the case if he shouldn’t be defending Tom, Atticus replied, ‘“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”’(75). BY saying this it really shows what kind of a person Atticus truly is. He doesn’t have any other reasons for taking the case other than he wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t. This teaches Jem and Scout courage first hand by showing them to stand up for what they believe in no matter what the outcome might be. The courage that Atticus teaches through his actions and the actions of others might allow Scout and Jem to grow up and show the same courage throughout their