The Believability of Atticus's Character in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

In the first ten chapters you have come across atticus as a lawyer father and a good human being by close reference to the text show what kind of a man he is. Do you think his character is believable?

Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem is known as an exemplary character in the town of Maycomb. He is known by all the citizens in the town and is one of the most prominent people. He is respected by all and is comparatively well off.

As a person, Atticus is known as calm, wise, intelligent and fair. And there are many instances in which his wisdom shines through. The fact that he hired a black woman to take care of his children in times like that shows a lot about his character. No other person in the entire town of Maycomb would do such a thing. Anyone else in town would never hire a nigger to do such a thing. Atticus doesnt classify people as black or white, or rich or poor. He sees everyone as humans, equal humans. He is free from the diseases of racism and classism so widespread in those days. Atticus does not judge, thats the biggest difference between him and the rest of the townspeople. He once said You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it'. Atticus is the most nonjudgmental person in all of Maycomb.

As a father Atticus can be said to be a great father. He is generally loving and caring towards his children, he guides them through right and wrong always, and he tries to make them morally strong as he is. He shows intelligent parenting, when Scout starts swearing, Atticus doesnt punish her or tell her not to, knowing that this would just make her swear more, instead he leaves her to keep swearing until she herself realizes its the wrong thing to do. He does not do it because he is careless or it does not matter to him what his children do, he does it because he truly cares about them and knows this is the best way to make them learn the right thing. Like Atticus said Bad language is a stage all children go through, and it dies with time when they learn theyre not attracting attention with it, its evident just how much he cares about his children.

As a lawyer, Atticus is just as great as he is a father and a person. The fact that he took up the case of a Black person shows just how strong his moral character is. Atticus knows that the case was already lost even before he took it up. When Scout questioned why he defended the black man Tom Robinson even though he was aware of the fact that he was gonna lose Atticus replied that if he did not, he would not be able to hold his head up among the people.

I think that his character is believable, though highly unusual; Atticus can be compared to a saint. There have been many saints in history, and their characters can be compared to Atticus, and the fact that there have been saints who sacrifice everything for their beliefs for example Mother Teresa shows that however unlikely it is for someone to be so just, it is possible, therefore his character is believable.