Parenthood In To Kill A Mockingbird

Improved Essays
Parenthood is a gift that each parent should treasure. It is an experience that every person should enjoy through their lifetime. Most children love living with their parents as they feel secure, and ready to tackle each day’s challenges. Each parent has a diverse approach which they use to raise their children and instill discipline on them. Critical roles of a father are to take care of their kids and provide protection to them (parentleadership.com). Both parent’s also have the primary role of providing for the needs of the child, including emotional needs. The parent should satisfy this need by providing the child with love and affection. Harper Lee gives us a situation where parents use diverse ways to nurture their children. The three parents are Walter Cunningham, Bob Ewell, and Atticus Finch.
Atticus depicts a responsible and trustworthy father. Being a single parent does not bar him from giving his children Jem and Scout the best parenting. Atticus is an amazing father figure that lets his children blossom and lets them make their own choices, so that they can learn from them. His two children love him and always want to spend time with him. He uses his spare time with his children, and teaches his kids how to read, and enjoys listening to them. He is an honest father, and this virtue is reflected on how he answers questions from his
…show more content…
His method of parenting is a bad one, and he proves to be a horrible father. Bob fails to provide for his children and uses all of his earnings to buy liquor. He is very irresponsible and leaves Mayella, the eldest sister, to take full responsibility of nurturing the other kids. There are indications that he regularly beats his children. Mayella having lesions during trials is evidence of this theory. He provides an atrocious image to his children, and he is cruel and arrogant. The approach, which he uses to nurture his children, depicts a racial prejudice and an irresponsible

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Wesley is a calm and intelligent man who shares his love of books with his son that he loves unconditionally. Wesley is often restrained from being himself as his wife, Ruth, starts to complain about his life choices. Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, is a father of two children, Scout and Jem. Atticus is well respected lawyer and citizen in Maycomb, Alabama. He is an intelligent and patient man who has good morals and values, he that individual where one can turn to in difficult situations.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Atticus represents morality and reason. He never rethinks his position on an issue. He parents in a quite unique way, he treats his children as adults, answering any question they have, never lying to them. Atticus uses this approach not only with his children, but with everything else in his life .…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus And Racism

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Atticus expects his children to stand up for what they believe in, and he does the same himself. He does not feel that he can tell them one thing and do another. Finally, Atticus is always guiding Jem and Scout with advice so that they will become more compassionate people. Atticus sets a good example for the children when Mr. Ewell confronts him. Even though he is provoked and insulted, Atticus simply has a “peaceful reaction”.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A good father is a man who can be constantly busy, but always makes time to be there for his kids. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus who is the father and sole parent of Scout and Jem, displays qualities of an ideal father. To begin Atticus is very comforting when his kids are upset about something. When his kids argue and one of them ends up with their feelings hurt he is always there to cheer them up and help them through whatever happened. We see this when Jem yells at Scout when she mentions the court and makes her upset, she immediately runs to Atticus to seek comfort.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem. For instance, he said to Jem “You just hold your head high and be a gentleman”(Lee 115) due to the fact that Mrs. Dubose is a very old lady but can be immoral at times. Even when Mrs. Dubose would say nasty remarks about people, he still did not talk bad about her. Atticus is being subtle with his message, but he is…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The parents in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” differ from parents today. In chapter 10 Scout says that Atticus is different from the other parents because he doesn’t play poker, drink, fish or smoke, to Scout this is a bad thing but if she thought about it that’s a good thing because he isn’t gone every day playing poker or spending all his money on smokes and beer. This tells us most of the other parents smoke, drink, fish and go hunting. Parents still do these things but kids don’t think of that as a good thing like kids in the book do. In the book the parents also just let their kids roam free, I understand why they would because they didn’t have to worry about the stuff that we have to worry about today but still the kids are playing…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Atticus Finch is a father of two children, Jeremey Atticus “Jem” Finch, and Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Jem is the oldest son and Scout is the youngest girl, Jem and Scout make a friend by the name of Charles Baker “Dill” Harris. The children know that Atticus loves them, but Atticus does not show it very well since his wife died. Atticus has certain rules that he wants his children to follow, but when they do not follow his rules they have consequences. Through out To Kill A Mockingbird Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill learn more about their neighbors, town, and their father Atticus.…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus Parenting Quotes

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Fathering at its Finest Atticus has many great qualities that show up in his parenting, making him a great parent. First and foremost, Atticus encourages his children to find their own paths in life. In a portion of the book, Atticus came home to Jem and Scout in the front yard, after a rare long day of snowfall in Alabama. He finds the snowman his kids have been working on and gives them tips to change their snowman so it does not look offensive towards their neighbor. After this Atticus said, “But from now on I’ll never worry about what’ll become of you, son, you’ll always have an idea.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It shows that he’s trustworthy, that scout and Jem can come to him for anything. These may not sound like “parent” characteristic but for Atticus, this make me want to look up to him, and that’s what kids should feel with there parent, that they are always there for them when they need them, that you can go to your mom or dad and be able to trust what they say. Parents should be our ideals. Atticus Is a good example of what in ideal parent should be. Hes selfless, wise, and loyal.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Atticus Finch Legacy

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A child in their teenage years has become associated with numerous headaches for parents and much discord and conflict within the household. Atticus Finch defies this standard by constantly maintaining the respect and affection of his children, even as their lives become complicated and difficult. Atticus manages this by simply living a good and honest life. He instills the qualities he wants to see in his children through the best way possible: by offering himself as a role model. Atticus teaches his children how to be better people and they observe the same characteristics within him, causing respect and love to exist mutually within the family.…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Atticus Father Quotes

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages

    As I am reading the story, I am Characterizing Atticus in two different ways. First, Atticus is a good father. One reason that he is a good father is that he is flexible and open minded. For example, most parents do not let their children run around all day without supervision. According to Mrs. Dubose, “It was heartbreaking the way…

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Model Parent Atticus Finch is the father of the protagonist Scout and her brother Jem in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is definitely evident that he is a good parent to his two children. Atticus is an exemplary father due to his sense of fairness and his good morals. First and foremost, Atticus Finch is a very fair man to his children because he always takes their opinions into account.…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To begin with, the way Atticus treats and cares for Scout and Jem is one of the various ways To Kill a Mockingbird is a love story. Atticus clearly loves his kids and it is obvious because he teaches him many things. If he didn't love them, he wouldn't tech them simple things, like reading, much less the more difficult things like how racism is wrong, and all people are the same. Atticus also shows compassion to his kids with gestures. The novel states, "As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem's hair, his one gesture of affection."…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Ewells, Alexandra, and Atticus all have different family environments and values. Atticus was a very good parent by supporting his children and teaching them lessons. It is important for people to read To Kill a Mockingbird to show the value of family and loyalty. A child learns how to behave and respond to certain situations based on what they have learned or experienced from family members. Jem and Scout will have better futures and successes based off of the strong connection with their…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Atticus does and excellent job of teaching his kids the right way to do things, even if it is not always viewed as the right way by society. Atticus shows Jem and Scout that the most important thing is how they fight through the evil in the world and show a good side – the side most people are not able to…

    • 1735 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays