Introduction
In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee in 1960, the story is written on behalf of the little six-year-old girl Scout Finch (Scout is a nickname, the real name of the heroine Jean Louise), a lawyer’s daughter. In the history the most active there are three guys: Jean Louise, her twelve-year-old brother Jim and seven-year-old Dill, a friend of the guys. But the book for adults makes this novel the father of Jean Louise and Jim – Atticus Finch, the lawyer, the protagonist of the story, the hero in every sense of the word. Nowadays To kill a Mockingbird essay is the example of importance of the topic of gender discrimination. He is a kind of personification of the image of the father, decency, courage, and responsibility. A quiet, melancholic man, 50 years old, almost blind in one eye, always a little tired, sitting in an armchair in the evenings, having buried himself in a newspaper or a book that can’t do anything compared to other fathers, his daughter sadly noticed. According to her, she never saw her father angry, except for one occasion — when he heard about Hitler on the radio. The main character is busy working for the benefit of the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, as a cult character is supposed to he is able to protect innocent people and not diminish the dignity of other people not only in the courtroom but also beyond.
Atticus’s wife died when Scout was only two, so he alone had to raise children. What is most noteworthy is that the children of Finch never called him “dad,” they always call him as Atticus. In this way, they show him their respect. And it is not surprising, because the main character development chose such a principle of upbringing, in which he does not expect his children to respect him only because he is their father, but because he acts in a way that deserves respect. That is why the children respond to him with great affection and the complete support of all his endeavors. However, with the inherent to Finch’s objectivity (and dislike for sentiment), Jean-Louise, introducing his father to readers, said about him briefly and clearly: Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment”. Atticus is a good father to his kids. He is self-educated and tries to encourage his children to love learning and enjoying literature as much as he does. He explains to them everything that interests them: “When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em.” He does not require conformity from his children and does not lie to them. When the children of Atticus behave badly, he is very tolerant; he teaches them to distinguish between what is good and what is bad. When Scout does not want to go back to school, Atticus listens to Scout’s explanation of why she is upset and tries to make her see the side of her teacher before coming up with a compromise that will make Scout happier.
Children often compared their father with the parents of their peers. Only after a while, the children understand that their parent Atticus Finch is cool in its own way and strong and he can get the jump on anyone.
The image is transformed in the eyes of its children when he picks up a rifle and kills a mad dog on the street that threatens the health of the residents of the street and personally to the children of Atticus. A calm man, who does not even show emotions, turns into a real hero, having done what even the local sheriff has saved from. A middle-aged lawyer suddenly turns out to be a masterly shooter. However, he never kills for fun and does not order his son.
In the professional life of Atticus behaves the same way. He is extremely intelligent and benevolent, and most importantly, he is always honest. For Attica, being a lawyer is not just a job, it is a personal commitment to justice and solving problems through the law, not violence.
Atticus’s lawyer undertook to fight for the obviously hopeless work of the black client Tom Robinson, and he defended him even at the cost of his own reputation among others. Because of this business, the boys mock and tease the children of Atticus for having such a father. But he will do everything so that everything will be legal with his client, even in spite of rebellious people who are ready to pass their own sentence without waiting for the formalities. Atticus Finch not only defends Tom in court but also physically protects his client from lynching. On Sunday evening, on the eve of the trial, Atticus goes to the prison building, where the prisoner awaits his fate, fastens a light bulb over his head, pulls out a chair and sits in the door of the guard so that it can be clearly seen even at night. Although he is a loyal and capable defender of Tom, Atticus shows great compassion for Mayelle Ewell, the victim. Thus, Attic shows an understanding of two great evils in the South of the USA: racism and poverty.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, although Atticus Finch did not win the process, the fact that in those days when similar cases didn’t take a few minutes to address the black prisoner, this time, the jury thought about the validity of such a sentence for more than one hour. And this is already a huge victory for Atticus Finch. To defend the truth despite the age-old prejudices, this is not heroism. It is necessary that people do not fall asleep conscience.
