Atticus Finch, in Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird, is a father who loves his children more than anything else, but
he is also a responsible father who wants his children to be able to live moral lives by
teaching them how to live well, and be concerned for the good of
others.
In Chapter Three, Atticus gives his children good
advice in order to help them better understand and empathize with others. He tells them
to put themselves in someone else's position before they judge that
person.
You
never really understand a person until you walk around in their
skin...
Atticus also tells
the children to never kill a mockingbird. Miss Maudie explains his directive. She points
out that mockingbirds offer joy in their music to everyone, and never cause any harm. He
provided this example as a way for the children to learn to care about others—those who
cannot protect themselves and never bring to harm to others, should be cared for. In
this story, the two characters that symbolize mockingbirds are Tom Robinson and Boo
Radley. Miss Maudie says...
Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music
for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't
do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird.
At the end of
the story, when Heck Tate is ready to release Bob Ewell's cause of death, he intends to
report that Bob Ewell fell on his knife while drunk. Atticus believes that Jem killed
Ewell, and refuses to let Heck report anything but the truth, even in an attempt to
protect Jem. Even though he believes his son will suffer with the public exposure and
censure he may receive, Attcus believes everything must be done "according to the book."
Otherwise, it will appear that Jem has been protected because of who his father his: a
betrayal of all Atticus has tried to teach his children. (It is, actually, Boo Radley
that Heck is trying to protect.) Atticus cannot live a lie, even to save his son; he
refuses to set a bad example, and says...
Heck, can't you even try to see it my way?
You've got children of your own, but I'm older than you. When mine are grown I'll be an
old man if I'm still around, but right now I'm—if they don't trust me they won't trust
anybody. Jem and Scout know what happened. If they hear of me saying downtown something
different happened—Heck, I won't have them anymore. I can't live one way in town and
another way in my
home.
Atticus has many
lessons he teaches his children, often by example. He is respected by the townspeople,
but the two people he is most concerned about are his children.
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