Atticus In To Kill A Mockingbird

The book To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb county during the Great Depression. The main character, Atticus Finch, is the father of Scout and Jem, is a lawyer for Tom Robinson, and is a well-respected man in town. Harper Lee characterizes Atticus as courageous and a wise man through his interactions with other characters and events throughout the novel.

Atticus is pictured as a man who demonstrates the meaning of courage. Harper Lee reveals that Atticus is a courageous man because he has been assigned to do the Tom Robinson case and when Scout asks if he will win Atticus says. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (76) Atticus knows he is going to lose but he is courageous

enough to just try. Atticus also knows that if he didn't defend Tom, he would not be able to hold his head up around town. It takes a lot of courage to stand up for a black man against a white man in Macomb where racism and prejudice take place. Atticus’ courage is put to the test one more time when a rabid dog is walking around in their neighborhood and he has to put it out if his misery because Heck Tate won't shoot it and he said. “I’d feel mighty comfortable if you did now” (96) Atticus was courageous in this act because he was the only one there that could shoot the dog and would shoot it his first shot. Atticus took the shot knowing that it was the best thing for the dog. He got over the fact that he gave up on shooting because he thought it was unfair that he was so good. The reason he is courageous it because Atticus always tries to put others before himself.
Through the many teachable moments throughout the novel, Atticus is shown to be a wise man.

On Scout’s first day of school, she got in trouble by Miss Caroline, her teacher, for already knowing how to read. So Atticus talked to Scout about the problem so they can work things out. Also, Atticus gives Scout a good life lesson when he 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… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (30) Atticus tells Scout this because he realizes that it is Miss Caroline’s first day as a teacher and it is in a place she is not familiar with. Over time Atticus has gained the ability to feel empathy for people by walking in other people's shoes. When Atticus is assigned to be Tom Robinson's lawyer, almost everyone in Macomb hears about it. One of Scout’s classmates calls Atticus a nigger lover and Scout is very upset by this and talks to Atticus and he straightens things out with her when he says. “Scout,’ said Atticus, ‘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.” (108) Atticus is saying to Scout that people call

other people names but when you look into detail Atticus is saying name calling does not really matter. Atticus is being wise because he is trying to teach Scout to ignore those things and not get so mad about it. Atticus uses his understanding and he applies his knowledge to teach Scout important lessons which make him a wise man.
Atticus shows his courage many times throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird and demonstrates that he is a wise man through the lessons he teaches Scout. He is a very important character in this book and even through the hard times he has faced, his thoughts and emotions stayed true to his character. Even though he lost the trial and was in danger by Bob Ewell, his thought process was never altered. After reading this book, most people will be able to learn important characteristics from the way Atticus behaves and will hopefully add it.