Atticus Finch Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee teaches the reader many lessons throughout the book. The character of Atticus Finch reveals the theme of the novel which is in order to make a change it takes sacrifice and hard work, along with determination. Mr. Finch sacrifices many things including his time, his pride, and he and his family's safety. Atticus is a selfless character who surprises you multiple times in the novel and is a revolutionist in Maycomb. He plays a major part in the storyline as one of the main protagonists.
Atticus is introduced as the widower father of Jem and Scout, his two young kids whose mother died when Scout was two and Jem was six but she “never felt her absence”.(pg. 7) One defining feature is that he treats his kids as equals, even allowing them to call him by his first name. He is an intelligent and humble lawyer who is well-known throughout the town as being progressive and “was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town”.(pg. 6) Scout’s father is chosen to represent Tom
He never gave up one Tom and knew that he wasn’t guilty of a crime he couldn’t possibly commit. He handled the after effects calmly by not responding to Mr. Ewell who spit in his face and instead said, “so if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take”.(pg. 292-293) Even after Mr. Ewell tries to kill Jem and Scout, Atticus is still there to teach them about humanity saying that, “most people are Scout, when you finally see them,” responding to Scout saying that a book character was “real nice”.(pg. 376) Atticus was a hard-working lawyer and father, who was determined to raise his children with the proper knowledge of right and wrong, and for them to know that race doesn’t make a difference, it’s about how people act that