Right, today, I will be blogging on my favorite character in the book To Kill a Mocking Bird- Atticus Finch. Recently, I attended a lecture on plot characterization, and the main character on which they were focusing on was Atticus Finch. That got me thinking and after some careful analysis, I am here now to present to you the unique personalities of Atticus.
Atticus is a very modest and humble man. Although being the leading lawyer in Maycombe county, the deadest shot in the county as well as being well known for his calm demeanor, rarely getting even slightly agitated, he is still as humble as an innocent child. This can be seen from the fact that he tried to hide his many traits and abilities from his children, even going to the extent that he denied his many accomplishments.
Besides that, he is portrayed as an impressive figure throughout the entire book. The scene of Atticus shooting the mad dog is one of the best examples in the book. The scene shows him hefting the gun in his hands, aimed for the dog and shot it dead almost immediately after. This scene shows the sense of authority Atticus possesses. Furthermore, the first person Calpurnia called was Atticus, and not the sheriff, Heck Tate. In a real life scenario, if you saw a mad dog, the first person you would call would be the sheriff. Personally, if I was the sheriff, I would feel very offended. Why call an old lawyer when there is an able- bodied policeman around? Why then, why did Calpurnia called the Atticus instead of Heck Tate? The answer lies in the community’s trust and respect in Atticus. Moreover, at that time, Atticus was defending a “nigger” in a court against a white man. This action is unacceptable by the community. However, the fact that Atticus was still given his due respect although breaking an unwritten law at that time (in the 1930s) shows the extent of the community’s respect for him. One last piece of evidence to pick out from this scene is the fact that although it is well known that he is the best shot in the county, he is still hesitant about shooting the mad dog. He is disbelieving of his own capabilities and even offered Heck Tate the gun. This again is further evidence to show that he is modest.
Another interesting scene to consider is the scene in the court room, when Atticus is delivering his speech. When Atticus is speaking, all the people in the courtroom (the audience, the plaintiff, the jury and the judge) all listened with bated breath. Atticus’ speech was so emotional that many people almost succumbed to tears. The jury was also all but convinced given his well crafted and persuasive speech. This is also evidence of his impressiveness and to further emphasis his sense of authority.
Having summed up all of Atticus more outlying characteristics, I will now go further to investigate his personality as a whole. Atticus is a person of morality, a person of fairness. He always believes in justice and will go to great lengths to uphold it. Atticus can easily use the fact that he has great authority, as well as being a well respected lawyer to oppress the blacks, to make the blacks slaves of his. However, as he believes in righteousness and fairness, he uses his position to try and influence other people, to make the whites accept the blacks into their community and to stop them from viewing blacks as slaves. He is even willing to go to the extent of risking his reputation and even his whole career to defend a black man against the unjust accusations of a white man when there is all but no hope in his favour. The degree of dedication Atticus shows in defending the rights of “niggers” is ample evidence to show that he is indeed a man of justice.
Personally, I feel that Atticus is a very rich character, full of significant qualities and characteristics. Therefore, I chose Atticus as my favourite character in the book To Kill a Mocking Bird.
