The Unconventionality of Atticus Finch
The Ironic Manifestation of the Holy Christian Trinity in Harper Lee’s Hero
Dan Marcec
“They don’t know they're wrong/ But you know that they never can see that/ That’s
what makes them strong/ that they know that we'll never see/ Some things never
change/ Something's gotta change that/ Some things you can't explain/ Like why
we’re all embracing conventional wisdom in a world that's just so unconventional”
– Built to Spill, Conventional Wisdom
Atticus Finch is portrayed as a heroic figure in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a
Mockingbird. As a father and as a neighbor in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, he
operates on a sort of unconventional wisdom — at least according to his friends, family
and fellow townsfolk. The irony of his unconventionality is that he conducts himself
quite rationally, and is paradigmatic of what modern society considers a good father and
a friendly neighbor. Further perpetuating this irony is the fact that Atticus is considered
unconventional by people who consider themselves devout Christians, whereas it is
Atticus who upholds the Christian values of fatherhood — raising his children in proper
accord with his own teaching and state and moral law — as well as living strictly by the
principles of Jesus Christ’s Golden Rule — love thy neighbor as thyself. Overlying all of
his actions are the spirits of respect and justice, which he outlines extensively in teaching
his children and in his defense of Tom Robinson, a local black man who is accused of
raping a white girl.
Again, the irony of his “unconventionality” — when matter-of-factly presented —
is that his philosophy of life and subsequent action are unquestionably conventional
underneath the umbrellas of Christian values and American democracy. Yet Atticus finds
himself under vehement scrutiny from his neighbors, who champion themselves as strict
adherents of these ideals. Thus, the following essay examines Atticus Finch’s demeanor
ii
toward his children, his neighbors and the principles by which he conducts himself in
order to display the unquestionable conventionalism of his unconventionality.
I.
In the name of the Father: Atticus ‘unconventional’ discipline
Atticus’ parenting techniques are called into question by many in the town of
Maycomb, most notably his sister, Alexandra, who is determined to make his daughter
Scout (proper name Jean Louise) into a lady. As it stands, Scout is what is commonly
referred to as a tomboy, hanging out with her brother and another male friend, traipsing
around in the dirt in overalls. Scout has a specific tiff with her cousin Francis
(Alexandra’s grandchild), who is basically opposite of her. To antagonize her, “Francis. .
. managed to tell everything he knew to Aunt Alexandra, who in turn unburdened herself
to Atticus.” For many children, this would be a damnable offense, being turned in for bad
behavior. However, Atticus, despite being under strict critique from his sister, would
“either forg[e]t it or g[i]ve me hell, whichever struck his fancy. But the only time I heard
him speak sharply to anyone was once when I heard him say ‘Sister, I do the best I can
with them!’” (92). This exchange highlights the fact that Atticus is happy with his
children, and he respects them as human beings, which, to my mind, is paradigmatic of
proper parenting. As Atticus’ fatherly advice shows, his children respect him and follow
closely what he says, which, in the end, is a father’s job — to teach his children how to
respect their lives and the lives of those around them. He defies what is considered
conventional wisdom, by which parents drive their children as slaves; in turn, these
“conventionally” raised children grow up to disrespect their parents and all authority.
As Atticus truly loves his children, he treats them with respect as fellow human
iii
beings. They, in turn — hopefully — will do the same. Referring to his difficult case,
defending a black man against a white woman in the 1930s Southern United States,
Atticus tells his brother, “Do you think I could face my children? You know what’s going
to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it
without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why
reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is
something I don’t pretend to understand. . . I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for
their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough. . .” (100-101).
Atticus realistically knows that his children may or may not listen to him, whereas many
parents are ignorant of the fact that their children are also human beings, not toys to be
catered to their every fancy. Yet, he still “does his best with them,” because he knows
what kind of influence the outside world can have, especially since he lives in opposition
— in this specific case and in his general philosophy — to many of his neighbors’ way of
life.
So, with respect to his stoic view on the world being generally unchangeable and
static, he gives his children advice with which they can face it. He tells Scout, who has
been fighting off people that are speaking poorly of him, “First of all, if you can learn a
simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really
understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. . . until you climb
into his skin and walk around in it” (33). He tells her that she must realize why people are
saying the things that they do, and that she must respect them for that, even if they are
wrong, or if she disagrees, or if it hurts. He suggests to her later, “You might hear some
ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head
iv
high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em
get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change. . . it’s a good one” (87). He
encourages her will to dissent those who she believes (and he believes) are wrong, but he
discourages her using force, which only leads to more trouble, both physically and
legally.
No matter what, Atticus’ philosophy of parenting comes to a matter of respect. He
has respect for his fellow man — the reason he is passionate about the Tom Robinson
case — and his children are not exempt from that category. A man (or woman) is only as
good as the regard he holds for humanity — both for himself and for others. Scout
explains, to kill a mockingbird is a sin for Atticus because all it does is make music for
people to enjoy. In other words — with respect to humanity — if someone is doing no
harm, the should be left alone to be who they are. “That was the only time I every heard
Atticus say it was a sin to do something” (103).
II.
And of the Son: Humility to Humanity
“Cecil Jacobs asked me one time if Atticus was a Radical. When I asked Atticus,
Atticus was so amused I was rather annoyed, but he said he wasn’t laughing at me” (287).
Atticus’ humble attitude toward Scout’s question regarding radicalism denotes exactly
the way that he views his work as a lawyer, surely, but also how he respects his fellow
man. Sure, he literally is a radical in the eyes of Maycomb County, Alabama. From the
point of view of the mainstream culture within the town of Maycomb, Atticus is seen as a
countercultural lawmaker, guilty of the most vicious sin to the Southern whites —
defending a black man’s word against a white woman’s. But as many might see his
v
actions as a countercultural move — one that is meant to defy the town and the principles
of “American Justice” — Atticus simply is a.) doing the job assigned to him, but at the
same time, since he believes Mr. Robinson, he is b.) standing up for what he believes is
just.
In response to his own sister’s prejudice against the black community in
Maycomb, when she worries that they are talking behind the family’s back, Atticus
responds, “I don’t know of any law that says they can’t talk. Maybe if we didn’t give
them so much to talk about they’d be quiet” (178). Aunt Alexandra’s concern is that this
trial is uprising the black community against the whites, or more practically, fueling the
existing fire, and Atticus simply deadpans a realistic response to the situation. Likewise,
when discussing the trial with some of his other supporters, he says, “‘Link, that boy
might go to the chair, but he’s not going until the truth’s told.’ Atticus’ voice was even.
‘And you know what the truth is’” (166). Here, Atticus is cognizant of the fact that Tom
most likely will be hung and taken to his death, because he understands the ways of
Maycomb County. Yet that cannot stop him from doing what he knows is right, and the
opposition from his friends and even his own sister cannot stop him from standing up for
his fellow humans, no matter the color of their skin. In defending Tom Robinson, a black
man, he is not disrespecting the white race, but he acts in the interest of justice, which, as
a lawyer, is his inherent job description. In this manner, he also treats Tom as well as the
other local Negroes as equally respectable human beings.
He explains the situation well to his daughter, when she concerns herself with his
affairs, appropriately worried that he (and they) are in danger. He says, “If I didn’t
[defend Tom Robinson] I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this
vi
county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (86).
The point that he makes here is that if he does not do right by his neighbors, then he
cannot do right by anyone. This further brings the issue of respect to Atticus on a
personal level. He wants to help the black community because he understands their
plight, but at the same time, he does not defend Tom Robinson (solely) for that reason. In
the same way, he wants to love his neighbor for the sake of loving his neighbor, but he is
cognizant of the fact that the Golden Rule is “love your neighbor as yourself.” Thus, he
must be able to love himself if he is going to be truly good to his neighbor.
In two explanations to Scout, Atticus perfectly sums his personal plight. Scout
worries of the names her father is called by the other children, but Atticus does not worry.
He explains, “Scout, nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything —
like snot-nose. It’s hard to explain — ignorant, trashy people use it when they think
somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It’s slipped into usage with
some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody. . . I
certainly am [a nigger-lover]. I do my best to love everybody. . . I’m hard put, sometimes
— baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just
shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you” (124). With the idea in mind that
he loves his neighbor, he explains to Scout that names don’t mean anything, and even if
they did, this does not change what it means to do the right thing. With regards to his
personal belief in Tom Robinson’s case, he says, “[The townspeople] certainly are
entitled to think that [they’re right and I am wrong], and they’re entitled to full respect for
their opinions, but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one
thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. . . This case, Tom
vii
Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience — Scout, I
couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man” (120). To love his
neighbor as himself, he must love himself. For Atticus Finch, to love his neighbor is to
subject himself humbly to his nature as a human being, recognizing that all his neighbors
are all the same in one respect: they all have rights to be respected as human beings. If he
commands respect, he must demand respect.
III.
And of the Holy Spirit: Seeking Justice in an Unjust Society
The respect Atticus demands from his fellow man comes down to his belief in
justice. Again, the reason he defends Tom Robinson comes down to much more than the
fact that he believes Tom’s side of the story. Practically, Atticus has a duty to give a man
a fair trial; locally, he knows how the black community is respected and treated in
Maycomb; and personally, he is determined to discover the truth of what is right, even if
that means that he is wrong. His closing argument to Tom Robinson’s trial, explicated
here in brief, perfectly sums the spirit from which Atticus’ philosophy on life operates.
He dictates, “There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to
use this phrase [‘all men are created equal’] out of context, to satisfy all conditions. The
most ridiculous example I can think of is that the people who run public education
promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious — because all men are created
equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of
inferiority. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have
us believe — some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity
because they’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make
viii
better cakes than others — some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most
men” (233).
This statement appears almost condescending and pompous. Does he suggest that
he may be one of these men who is more gifted or “industrious” than others? Do the
whites in the community, who believe he is a “radical nigger-lover” think he is speaking
of them, and does he think that the black community is better than them? Perhaps he
thinks both, but this is not his point. Atticus is simply relating truisms of the culture, with
respect to the fact that there should be a place — despite the fact that there is a natural
inequality within society — where justice will be served.
Ironically, he knows what the verdict will be, yet he implores the jury, “Our
courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are
the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal. . . Gentlemen, a court is no
better than each man of you sitting on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a
jury is only as sound as the men who make it up” (233). He is a lawyer, who believes in
the integrity of his work, and more than that, he is a man who believes in the integrity of
his own humanity, and through his association of himself to his fellow human, he thusly
believes in the integrity of all humanity. Therefore, even though he is realistic about the
fact that the whites in his community dislike the blacks, he would like to see a
transcendence of this prejudice, and without regard of how it may be interpreted, he
moves for this liberation.
IV.
Amen, Brother.
“We’ve made [society] this way for them, they might as well learn to cope with
ix
it” (243). In this specific phrase, Atticus is referring to his sister’s fear that his children
will be corrupted by exposure to the courtroom, yet his words ring of realities in
generations to come. Writing in the midst of the Civil Rights uprising in 1960 — but well
before legislation had been passed in favor of integration in the South — Lee writes of a
“past time” in 1935 when prejudice is rampantly apparent. Ironically, the novel still
unquestionably relates to the way in which society operates. Even today, if the rift
between whites and black has been somewhat mitigated — which would be a generous
assumption — with continuing globalization, individual countries’ patriotism holds the
same sort of prejudice against those that are “other.” Of course this is one example,
because regardless of the specific conflict, humans (like many of their animal brethren)
are territorial and fearful of that which is unfamiliar.
In one of the most uncharacteristically harsh statements Atticus makes in the
entire novel, he finally expresses his personal feelings to his son upon those who he
views unjust. He says, “You couldn’t [convict a man justly on such evidence as Tom
was], but they could and did. The older you grow the more of it you’ll see. The one place
where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow,
but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow
older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you
something and don’t you forget it — whenever a white man does that to a black man, no
matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is
trash.” Again, this emotional response could be misconstrued and interpreted as Atticus’
hatred toward the white race, but it is no such thing. It is a damnation of any human who
disrespects another — a simple view of human nature as it stands; his statement is
x
applicable to any form of prejudice.
In the end, while Atticus himself is the most humble of men, he elicits the respect
of his children, the community, and most importantly, of himself. He has a way in which
he operates, and he is unwilling to compromise this way in spite of any influence that
surrounds him. Thus, his unending passion for humanity allows him to be an excellent
father, a respectful neighbor and a fantastic lawyer. His “unconventional” ways may be a
departure from the ways of his world and of the modern world, but they certainly work
for his family, and he gains the respect of the people around him, no matter their
opposition to him. With Atticus in mind, then, why would we embrace conventional
wisdom if unconventionality is the way of the world?