Selfless Heroism: An Examination of Atticus Finch

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is no the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at what ever cost”- Arthur Ashe. Heroes are not the ones that take the glory for doing the incredible tasks. Heroism is a trait for a human to serve others than themselves. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus Finch, a father of two, defends a black man with the name of Tom Robinson. Atticus takes this case since he is not racist like the others in Maycomb and if he did not take the case, he would not be able to keep his head held high in town. Humble, creative, and even-handle are three characteristics that make up Atticus Finch.

To begin with, Atticus is a humble man without showing

it off or taunting others in the county. Atticus, is a likable character he does nothing wrong and does not flaunt when he does something great. An example of this is in chapter ten. As Calpurnia and Jem walk onto the front porch they discover something in the distance. “Watcha lookin at?” (Lee 122) Scout asks Jem on an early Saturday morning. Jem replies with, “That old dog yonder” (Lee 122). Responsible, Jem adds, “ I don’t care, I’m gonna tell Cal” ( Lee 122). Soon as Cal recognizes the mad dog she immediately alerts Atticus to come home. “Mr. Finch!” She blurted into the phone. “This is Cal. I swear to God there’s a mad dog down the street a piece-he’s commin’ this way, yes sir, he’s- Mr. Finch, I declare he is- old Tim Johnson, yes sir… yes sir… yes” (Lee 123). As Atticus arrives, he brings Heck Tate. As they are discussing how to handle this situation, Heck grabs a rifle. Suddenly the crazed dog started to walk in the direction then a mad dash at the Finch’s house. “For God’s sake, Mr. Finch, look where he is! Miss and you’ll go straight into the Radley house” (Lee 127). Atticus took the shot and kills the raged dog. Jem and Scout were awed that their (old) Father was a great shot. As Heck and Atticus make their way back to the house Heck says to Jem and Scout, “Didn’t you know your daddy’s” (Lee 128). Atticus cut off Heck because Heck was bragging about Atticus. Atticus was being humble because he stopped the bragging about him. Being the mature adult he is, he did his job and then was done. He did not take any glory for that task. He put others before himself.
Furthermore, Atticus is an even-handle man for everyone in Maycomb county.

A very important example of Atticus being even is when he decided to be a defendant for Tom Robinson. As Scout is wondering why her dad is defending a black man, she asks him why is he doing this. Atticus responds with, “If I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 83). He also adds, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us to try to win” (Lee 84). The reason why Atticus is defending Tom is because he knows that Tom did not do it and that everyone needs a fair trial. Atticus hated by others in Maycomb for defending for Tom. Atticus undertakes this case even knowing that he is licked because racism is in a tremendous amount of people of Maycomb and still

today.
Last of all, Atticus has a creative mind when under pressure.

As the town gathers in the court, all eyes are on Atticus as he is trying to protect Tom Robinson. “Can you read and write?” Said Atticus (Lee 236). Mr. Ewell immediately responds with, “I can most positively can” (Lee 236). Atticus pulls out a pen and hand it to Mr. Ewell. As Mr. Ewell is writing his name on an envelope Atticus takes note that he is left hand dominant. As Mr. Ewell is about to be dismissed Mr. Gilmer made sure the can not use both of his hand to write. “ About your writing with your left hand, are you ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell?” Asked Mr. Gilmer (Lee 238). “I most positively am not, I can use one hand good as the other. One hand good as the other” Mr. Ewell responded with (Lee 238). Everyone knows now that Tom Robinson is innocent since Atticus is remarkably creative when under pressure. Earlier in the chapter the stories said from the opposing side say that Mayella is hurt on the right side of her face. That means that the person who attacked her had to be left hand dominant. It could have not been Tom since he is crippled on his left hand. Since racism runs through a vast majority of people in Maycomb, Tom is convicted guilty and goes to jail. One night he tries to escape and tries to climb a wall and is brutally shot seventeen

times.
To conclude, one can freely disagree with some reasoning for Atticus’s likability as a character in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. His humbleness, creativeness, and even-handling is very important that every individual should bear these three traits today. Lee’s novel sets an example for everyone to follow. To become a better human being.