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Who Is Atticus Finch In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most renowned books of all time, centering around young Scout and her family (her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus,) as both Scout and her older brother mature through the events that occur in Maycomb county along the three years the novel spans. The aforementioned events include: the wrongful conviction of a black man (who Atticus defended brilliantly in court) for no other reason than the racism the Maycomb citizens harbored in their hearts, the death of this man by seventeen gunshot wounds when he attempted to escape prison, the attempted murder of Scout and Jem, the appearance of a neighborhood recluse for the first time in years, the slow death of a morphine addict who …show more content…
One example of his likeness to a mockingbird’s goodness and perfection would be when he willfully takes the job of defending that no other attorney wanted, the case of Tom Robinson, who everyone knew would be convicted no matter what Atticus did or showed the jury. Even though he knew he would lose this case, he took it, and he did the best he could to help Tom. To the black community, this also makes him their mockingbird, as he does all he can to help, respect, and show equality to them when most other whites won’t. He is rarely, if ever, seen actually angry at anyone, including his children when they disobey. Also, his avoidance of guns is a sign of his aversion to violence when explained by Miss Maudie in her words. She says, “I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things." This shows his unwillingness to hurt or harm anyone (or anything), just like the mockingbird description mentioned earlier. His unfailing election to the state legislature is an example of how no one wants to shoot him down. Even if they talk about him and call him names, they still won’t shoot him because, like a mockingbird, they know he is good, even if they can’t be that kind of good

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