Parental Love in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

To Kill A Mockingbird: Atticus Finch

The bountiful love between a parent and a child is mysteriously unique and special. It is as if there were a world-wide pact, that all of man acquiesced to always love their children and show them compassion all their lives. Parents show their children they love them day by day, endlessly, in a myriad of ways. Atticus Finch raises his children with the same type of love, if not more, but in a not so typical way. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch provides his children with an education and allows them to develop their own personalities by giving them more freedom than the average child.

Atticus Finch demonstrates his love for Jem and Scout by providing them with an education. For example, although Scout abhors school enough to pretend being ill, Atticus continually urges her on through the tedious school years. Atticus loves Scout enough to see that obtaining an education is extremely important. However, rather than forcing Scout domineeringly, he gives her the choice of whether or not to accede, but ultimately Scout knows she must yield to his opinion out of deference. In addition, Atticus teaches Scout how to read at an early age and continues to help her practice by reading the newspaper with her every evening. Evidently, you can see that Atticus must love Scout because he reads with her each and every single evening. This costs time and as a busy lawyer, time is very precious to Atticus. Reflecting on what Atticus has done for his children in the novel, we can see that he cares very much about his childrens futures, and this in turn shows us that he loves his children.

By providing his children with a relatively excessive amount of freedom, Atticus demonstrates that he loves Jem and Scout. For example, Atticus does not limit who Jem and Scout consort with to those who have respectable family backgrounds. Atticus allows his children to judge all people equally and chose their friends for themselves. This is a very special privilege considering that the Finchs live in southern Alabama, where most people were still highly prejudiced towards African Americans. Looking at the prestigious Finch family background, we can also see the importance of this privilege. In addition, Atticus allows Scout to cloth herself as she prefers. In the early 1930s, this could have been considered taboo. Girls were expected to dress and act like ladies. Giving his children the ability to live their lives with their own volition, Atticus shows compassion for his children by giving making them responsible.

Atticus Finch is a typical man, however, as a parent Atticus proves to diverge from the main swing of Maycombian society. Maycombian society dictates that children are raised in a traditional matter: children will do everything as they are told and all thoughts that a child may have are rubbish. Atticus contradicts this basic principle of Maycombian lifestyle while raising his children. He permits Jem and Scout to commit in their own volition and provides them with a wide range of freedoms. Although his children dislike attending school, Atticus goads them through long and boring school years. In conclusion, Atticuss methods of raising his children and showing his love for them positively affected their personalities.