Atticus' Personality

Atticus is a lawyer and a devoted father. His wisdom, calmness and assurance make him stand out from all the other characters.

The author make the readers feel comfortable when in presence of Atticus, firstly because he seems to be a good father, and secondly because he is strong-minded and modest.

    Atticus lives in a rural town, mostly inhabited by farmers that didn’t necessarily get a good education. But he remains diplomatic and considered towards these people, and demonstrates a lot of wisdom, as he teaches his children to remain like him and not to have prejudices or to stereotype other people, like the Cunninghams’ or Mrs. Henry Dubose (“she died to her views, beholden to nothing and anybody. She was the bravest person I ever met”-page 124-). As an example, he says page 120 that he does “his best to love everybody”. Also, the fact that he defends a black person is an example of his kindness and fairness towards others.

    He shows great open-mindedness and good moral in defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of crimes. Because of that, Atticus is exposed to all kind of insults from others, like “nigger-lover” (page 95), but still defends him because he thinks “this case, Tom Robinson’s case, is one that goes to the heart of man’s conscience”(page 111). He doesn’t only exposes himself, but his daughter and son, Jem and Scout, who have to put up with what we tell them at school and not to begin thinking their father is abnormal.

     Also, Atticus is, for me, the image of a priest in “To Kill a Mocking-Bird”. He teaches people, like his children to be wise and considered in every situation. He gives them advices about life, and how to go on with life. His most famous sentence must be: “shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (p.99).

     Finally, Atticus is honorable by his sense of courage: for him, courage doesn’t mean shooting people or not being scared in any situations, but to know that things are going to be hard and still continue fighting for what we want. (“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s whan you you’re licked before you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what”).

    To conclude, Atticus is, in this book, not only a great image of wisdom and integrity, but also of courage and bravery.  He is one, if not the most important character in the story and his actions change other peoples' character, and influence their actions positively. He holds the image of a loving father, a respectable person, and a friend in general.