Defending Atticus Finch In 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

Atticus Finch: Defending Tom Robinson

It is a common question as to why Atticus Finch would defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. What sense did it make, to stand by a negro like him? The Golden Rule Atticus lives by and the kind of person he is may have something to do with it, as well as the influence of his two kids, Jem and Scout. Now, after reading the whole text of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus defending Tom makes perfect sense.

Atticus Finch is a man described in To Kill a Mockingbird as someone who always does the right thing, even if other people disagree with him. Despite not wanting to take the case at first, he knows that Tom is innocent and defends him to the best of his ability. Other

people in Maycomb didn’t expect Atticus to do this, and they do not agree with his choice of being on the same side as a negro. In chapter nine, he tries to explain this to his daughter, Scout. “‘ …there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man…’” (Lee 100). Regardless of what the town folks say about him, Atticus holds his position and continues with what he has always believed. Atticus told Scout that “‘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’” (Lee 39). He definitely expects his kids to use his advice, and it seems as if he takes it as well. Seeing things from Tom’s point of view, and trying to understand it is the way he defends him. Selfless, is another way to describe Atticus. By taking this case, which no one else would do, he has proved to others that he cares about other people before himself. When Scout gets teased at school for her dad representing Tom Robinson, she wonders why he is even doing it in the first place. The Finch’s neighbor, Miss Maudie, says, “‘I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them’” (Lee 288). Atticus does not take the case for his own gratification, but for the sake of his children and others.
Throughout most of the novel, Scout does not understand why her father would defend a negro in court, and every time she mentions it, he does his best to explain it.

“‘The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again’” (Lee 100). Atticus knows that if he didn’t go with his gut and defend Tom, he would be lacking in teaching his children an important lesson. If he didn’t teach his kids to stand up for what is right, what kind of father would he be? It makes sense that Atticus might defend Tom for the sake of them and the main lesson he would get out of it. He also does it in hope of keeping Jem and Scout away from “Maycomb’s Disease.” Atticus tells his brother, “‘I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why otherwise reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand’” (Lee 117). Atticus’s son, Jem, looks up to him in many ways and is good at making the right decision like his father. Atticus did a good thing by defending Tom Robinson because he taught his kids many valuable lessons. For example, when Atticus is at the jailhouse to protect Tom, Jem goes to protect Atticus and refuses when he tells him to leave. “‘Go home, Jem,’ he said. ‘Take Scout and Dill home.’ We were accustomed to

prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus’s instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging” (Lee 203). Even though at first Atticus was aggravated toward Jem, he realized that he had taught his kids well and is setting a good example for them.
Although Atticus defending Tom Robinson was practical in my opinion, he knew he was going to lose the case before it even began.

He had absolutely no chance of winning, and everyone knew it too. However, this did not stop him from going in with confidence. “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’" (Lee 76) is one of the things Atticus said when people questioned him on defending when they knew he had no chance. Atticus proved a point by taking the case, Just because there is a high chance the outcome won’t turn out how you want it, you never know unless you try.

Overall, Atticus defending Tom Robinson makes perfect sense. It seems in character for him to do so. His selflessness, his want to do the right thing, and the influence of his two children could have been a big part in him taking the case. Although he himself knew he had no chance of winning, if he didn’t, it would seem like everything he stood for in life would mean nothing. Atticus had to use his own advice and lessons to get himself through this trial, and in the end of it all, him defending Tom Robinson makes

sense.