Admiration for Atticus

"To Kill a Mocking Bird"-essay


Throughout many childhoods the parental figure is commonly thought to be a strict, lecturing and seperate figure. Between parent and child there is often a superior and inferior relationship. But in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a father who treats his children equally and gains his children's love and admiration. The admiration and understanding that Scout and Jem felt towards their father grew as their father showed integrity, taught by example and stood for what he believed, even if it was contradictory to society.

The integrity that Atticus had was one of the reasons for the growth of his children's admiration and understanding of him. Atticus had a deal with his children. He promised them that "…[they] were at all times free to interrupt [him] for a translation when it went beyond [their] understanding…"(Lee, 2002, 38). This was a simple promise, but it let his children interrupt him without fear of upsetting him...