Atticus Parenting Techniques In To Kill A Mockingbird

About 50% of children could not go to school during the Great Depression due to lack of schools or transportation. However, Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout Finch, refuses to give up. Harper Lee emphasizes Atticus’ parenting techniques several times in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Even with all the challenges, including the criticism of others, Atticus still teaches his children what he believes they must know in life.

Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout Finch, tries to instill morals that he believes are right no matter the circumstance. Even with the troubling situation in his life, he is able to handle it well and explain it in an orderly manner to his children. After Mrs. Dubose angers Jem and Scout by calling Atticus

a “nigger-lover”, Scout asks Atticus if he really does support them. He responds by saying “I certainly am. 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” ( Lee 144-145). This shows how strong Atticus is rooted in his beliefs. He does not try to justify his position, but instead explains why other people may think that way. Many people continue to pester Atticus and his children about him protecting a African-American, but Atticus never gives in to them. One key lesson that he continues to preach to Scout is to not judge others until you are in their situations. He would say to her, “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” (39). Near the end of the novel, Scout finally grasps the idea of what Atticus was trying to teach her and begins to apply it to her own life.
Despite Atticus teaching his children important lessons, people around him criticize him and sometimes rightfully so.

Atticus is a lawyer and is appointed to protect Tom Robinson, an African-American man, and because of this he is very busy. Everyone knows he cares for his children, but question if he is raising them in the correct way. Mrs. Dubose criticizes his way of parenting, saying, “A lovelier lady than our mother never lived, she said, and it was heartbreaking the way Atticus Finch let her children run wild” (133). Many people in Maycomb would agree with her because Atticus is not seen around his children during the daytime and only with them at night. A big point of criticism that many people have toward Atticus is the way he raises Scout. People continuously ask her why she does not dress like a women and why she acts the way she acts. All this criticism goes back to Atticus and his style of parenting. Aunt Alexandra is the main critique of Atticus’ parenting of Scout. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (108). She does not approve of how Scout dresses, which Atticus has control over. He stops Scout from wearing inappropriate clothing, but he sees no problem with Scout wearing

pants.
With all that goes on in the novel, it is obvious that Lee is putting in her own opinions of parenting. Lee shows her opinions through her character, Atticus Finch. She reveals two of her beliefs when Uncle Jack and Atticus have a “private” talk. This occurs after Scout tells Uncle Jack about how she is never given a chance by others except Atticus. “Well, in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it—you just lit right into me. When Jem an‘ I fuss Atticus doesn’t ever just listen to Jem’s side of it, he hears mine too” (113). Lee might be saying that parents need to trust their children. She believes in that children should receive the benefit of doubt. Atticus clearly trusts his children and Lee shows her thoughts through him. After Scout tells him this, Uncle Jack goes to Atticus to apologize and admits “Your daughter gave me my first lessons this afternoon. She said I didn’t understand children much and told me why. She was quite right, ...she told me how I should have treated her” (115). It is evident that Lee feels that some people are not ready and should not have children. Lee herself never got into a relationship and her reason why may be shown through To Kill a Mockingbird. Many characters in the book are not ready to be parents such as Bob Ewell and Uncle Jack. The novel reveals a lot about how Lee felt about parenting.
To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, has many themes going on, but one of the most important ones is parenting. Atticus Finch , a father of two, who receives criticism about his parenting style, accurately reveals this theme. Not only does he have with that, but must deal with living in the Post-Great Depression era. Many children did not have the resources to attend school, yet Atticus supports his children learning. He is not brought down by any obstacles in his way and continues to mentor his children on how to live, displaying to all what a good parent should be.