Noah Wooden
Dr. Bedsole
Summer Reading Essay
September 9, 2020
Atticus
“To Kill a Mockingbird” a novel, by Harper Lee, is about a father and his children living
in Alabama in the 1930s. Through the course of the book, Atticus, the father attempts to prove
the innocence of Tom Robinson. Tom is a black, married man with a family of five children.
Tom was put on trial after being accused of raping a white woman. Throughout the book, Atticus
is a great father to his children because he teaches them, by his own example, many values
including respect, fairness, and compassion.
Atticus is a good father because he treats everyone with respect regardless of race.
Atticus demonstrates to his children to treat everyone with respect no matter their skin color or
how disrespectful they may be. For example, Arthur Radley hasn’t left his own home for 50
years. Atticus’s children, Jem and Scout, want to see him and try to provoke him into coming out
of his home. In response to their invasion of Mr. Radley’s solitude, Atticus says, “What​ ​Mr.
Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside
his own house he had the right to stay inside free from the attention of inquisitive children…”
(Lee, 50). This is a great example of how Atticus taught his children to respect others’ privacy
after Jem and Scout got too nosy on their neighbor.
Atticus exemplifies fairness to his children by taking up the Tom Robinson case. Atticus
knew that no one else would take it because Tom was black. Atticus felt it was important that
Tom deserved a fair trial even though he was black. Atticus did this even though he knew that
taking up the case would cause him and his family to be looked down upon. Scout heard some of
the accusations said against Atticus for defending a black man. Scout asked Atticus about these
accusations at dinner one night. Atticus acknowledged and said he had taken the case. Atticus
explained, ​“`For a number of reasons,` said Atticus. `The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold
up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or
Jem not to do something again.`” (Lee, 75). Atticus uses this as a teaching moment for Scout and
Jem to always treat everyone with fairness no matter their skin color.
Another way Atticus makes a good father is by teaching his children to show
compassion. An example is when Atticus teaches Scout to try and understand her teacher more
even though her teacher, “Miss Caroline”, scolds Scout repeatedly. After dinner one day, Scout
and Atticus discuss Scout’s misfortunes of the day. Miss Carolina smacked Scout’s fingers with
a ruler after Scout told her that she could already read and write. Miss Carolina told Scout to
stop reading with Atticus because he is teaching her wrong. Instead of being mad, Atticus says
“First of all, he said, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all
kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of
view--” “Sir?” “--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee, 39). Even though her
teacher scolded her a lot, Atticus taught Scout to live with compassion and how to try to
understand other people by “climbing into their skin.” Another great example of this value is
during the trial of Tom Robinson, Atticus makes Bob Ewell look like a liar and a fool. Atticus
wasn’t attacking Bob, he was just doing his job as a lawyer. After court that day, Bob Ewell
approaches Atticus and calls him names and spits on him. Later, Jem and Scout are scared for
Atticus’s safety after Bob threatened him. They try to convince Atticus to carry a gun, but
Atticus said no. Atticus was calm and compassionate and in response to Bob Ewell’s actions said
“Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility
at that trial, if he had any, to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind
always does. So if spitting in my face, and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra
beating, that something I will gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be
me than that houseful of children out there. You understand?” (Lee, 293). Rather than being
angry, Atticus demonstrates compassion and teaches his children to put themselves in someone
else's shoes.
Some may disagree that Atticus was a great father because he worked a lot and was not
always able to be home with his children. For example, his sister “Aunt Alexandra” helped out a
lot and looked after his children while he worked. Atticus was still a good father because instead
of going out and doing other things he was working hard to provide for his family. You could
also argue he was a bad father for taking the Tom Robinson case and risking his children’s
safety. Atticus didn’t want to back down to racism and prejudice, he wanted to teach his children
to do the right thing no matter what.
Throughout the book, Atticus is a great father to his children because he teaches them
how to be a better person. He does this by showing examples of respect, fairness, and
compassion. He teaches them to respect other people’s ways of life, like Mr. Radley and his
solitude. He teaches them fairness by taking Tom Robinson’s case even though he was black.
He teaches them to show compassion by repeatedly encouraging them to “climb into other skin’,
or to “get into other’s shoes”. These points show what a great father Atticus was to Jem and
Scout even if they didn’t realize it at the time.