Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Atticus Finch Characteristics
- Realistic
- He knows that the verdict
of the trial is inevitable
- "When it's a white man's word against a
black man's, the white man always wins"
- Link to prejudice that surrounded
Southern America in the 1930's, in
particular Alabama- the city where the
fictional town of Maycomb is set.
- “if I didn’t, I couldn’t hold his head
up in town, I couldn’t represent this
county in the legislature, I couldn’t
even tell you or Jem not to do
something anymore.”
- Atticus is not a hypocrite, and he will not
tell his children to do something when he
has not done something that he knows
he should have done, which is to try and
defend an innocent black man.
- This suggests that Atticus is
a gentleman who remains
true to himself and does not
let other people’s opinions
affect him.
- LINKS TO MRS DUBOSE WHERE SHE SAYS "YOUR FATHER'S
NO BETTER THAN THE NIGGERS AND TRASH HE WORKS FOR
AND ATTICUS SIMPLY REPLIES WITH "GOOD EVENING MRS
DUBOSE, YOU LOOK LIKE A PICTURE THIS EVENING."
- “simply because we’re licked one
hundred years before we
started is no reason for us not
to try to win.”
- Atticus is implying that he knows what
the verdict will be because one man
cannot change the ways of Maycomb
county, but, he will give Tom an equal and
fair trial and not just give up on him
because of the inevitable verdict.
- “you never really understand a person until you
consider things from his point of view… until
you climb in his skin and walk around in it”
- Portrayed as understanding and
non-judgemental. He never judges anyone before
he sees their situation through their eyes, he
does this when he saves Tom and considers how
he feels for being innocent but convicted of rape
and leaving his wife and children.
- Realistic in his aims and what
he wants people to think of him.
- Never wants to be an idol or seen as perfect. All he wants
to do is what he thinks is best and doesn't care what other
people think. Only believes what is morally right
- Fallible
- Lynch mob incident
- "no we don't have mobs and
that nonsense in Maycomb"
- Shows Atticus can be naive and a bit
too trusting of people sometimes.
- Link to "you never really understand..."- shows he always
sees the good in people and understands their perspective
- Implies Atticus sees Maycomb
as a good town that doesn't
have any mobs or "nonsense"
- Atticus is also shown in this
incident to be protective as although
he doesn't believe there are any
lynch mobs in Maycomb, he still goes
and sits outside Tom's prison cell to
protect him from them.
- Bob Ewell spitting incident
- After the trial Bob Ewell
is humiliated by Atticus.
- "This morning Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on
the post office corner, spat in his face, and told
him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life."
- Atticus remains calm about the
situation and wipes his face with his
handkerchief and carried on with his day.
However, he's portrayed as fallible
because he tells his children "we don't
have anything to fear from Bob Ewell, he
got it all out his system that morning"
- CONTRAST TO END OF NOVEL-ATTEMPTING
TO KILL JEM + SCOUT.
- Charitable
- Helps the Cunninghams out after the Great Depression
as he understands they were greatly affected by this.
- ""As the Cunninghams had no money to pay a
lawyer, they simply paid us with what they had."-
Atticus allows the Cunningham's to repay him with
the food the grow as he understands they have no
money after the depression but need a lawyer.
- Charitable to Mrs Dubose, despite the fact
she is one of the most discriminative and
disrespectul people in Maycomb.
- Mrs Dubose is cruel to Atticus as she tells
Jem and Scout "Your fathers no better
than the niggers and trash he works for."
- After this comment, Jem ruins Mrs Dubose's camellia bushes.
- As a punishment for his actions, Atticus agrees that Jem
should go and read to Mrs Dubose for two hours each day.
- Atticus did not really do this as s punishment, in fact, he
did it to teach his chindren a lesson as he knows Mrs
Dubose was trying to overcome her morphine addiction.
- Does it to teach his children what courage is- "It's when you know you're licked
before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what."
- LINK TO
HIM
DEFENDING
TOM
- Children
witnessed a
dying woman's
battle against
an addiction.
- Helps out the so-called "phantom"
of the street, Boo Radley.
- Atticus and Heck Tate agree to tell everyone
that Bob Ewell "fell on his knife" to protect Boo.
- Already let one innocent
man, symbolised as a
Mockingbird die.
- Respectful
- "You'll have to bear with me, Miss Mayella"
- "Won't answer a word as long as you keep mocking me"
- Suggests that this is
one of the very few
times Mayella is being
treated with respect as
she believes Atticus is
"mocking" her here just
by calling her "Miss."
- This also proves that Bob
Ewell is a bad father as it
proves, apart from by Tom,
she has never been
respected by anyone else
and is not accustomed to
simple gestures of respect.
- Mrs Dubose tells Atticus's
children he's "no better than
the niggers and trash he
works for." Even though they
tell him this, he still passes
her house and says "Good
evening, Mrs Dubose. You look
like a picture this evening."
- Doesn't listen to other people's opinions.
- Respects the black
community as he tells his
daughter "don't say nigger
Scout, that's common."
- Recieves respect
from black
community.
- "Stand up. Your
fathers passin'."