Atticus Finch as a Hero
Atticus is an Attorney for the local community and father of the two children Scout and Jeremy. In actual fact, Atticus is one of the most well-known and inspirational book characters there is. His teachings are well known, not necessarily direct teachings, but his ways and his actions did set good examples as to how a man should be. Atticus teaches people to be rational in the choices they make. There are three major components to Atticus’s sense of heroism, being his way of critical self-reflecting, compassion to other things and people, and his belief that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.
Atticus has a way of calling reflection of one’s self behaviour. He often asks a famous question of his: “Do you really think so?” This piercing question, asked to one when they supposedly make an irrational statement about something, really makes the person be taken aback and really look over the meaning of their assumptions for any irrational values that might be linked to or a representation of someone or something else. It is also a way of making one understand themselves better, knowing if they act civil enough to other people, and really reflect on their moral values and motions.
In the trial with Tom Robinson, Atticus challenged the white jury’s and witnesses’ perspective of how Black people should be treated. They seem to blindly think “that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are immoral beings, that all Negroes cannot be highly qualified, and that all Negro men are not to be trusted around white our (white) women.” “Do you really think so?” By defending the Negro in the trial, Atticus asks these questions for the purpose of challenging the whites’ irrational and uncivil assumptions, articulating them in their minds. Harper Lee in reading the novel wants us to really be challenged by these ideas of ‘prejudice ways’, She gets Atticus Finch to do that in the novel by making us confront our assumptions and get a feel for what we really believe, so we can see if our own morals are coherent or rational by the mean standards.
Atticus has a way of calling reflection of one’s self behaviour. He often asks a famous question of his: “Do you really think so?” This piercing question, asked to one when they supposedly make an irrational statement about something, really makes the person be taken aback and really look over the meaning of their assumptions for any irrational values that might be linked to or a representation of someone or something else. It is also a way of making one understand themselves better, knowing if they act civil enough to other people, and really reflect on their moral values and motions.
In the trial with Tom Robinson, Atticus challenged the white jury’s and witnesses’ perspective of how Black people should be treated. They seem to blindly think “that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are immoral beings, that all Negroes cannot be highly qualified, and that all Negro men are not to be trusted around white our (white) women.” “Do you really think so?” By defending the Negro in the trial, Atticus asks these questions for the purpose of challenging the whites’ irrational and uncivil assumptions, articulating them in their minds. Harper Lee in reading the novel wants us to really be challenged by these ideas of ‘prejudice ways’, She gets Atticus Finch to do that in the novel by making us confront our assumptions and get a feel for what we really believe, so we can see if our own morals are coherent or rational by the mean standards.