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Qualities of Atticus Finch

Qualities of Atticus Finch


Many people act differently around different people and in different places. They put on faces in order to impress and to be accepted. In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, many people are not who they seem to be and have different sides to their personalities that are only seen in certain places or around certain people. Atticus Finch is an example to his children, and to the rest of the town, of an honest man who never pretends to be anyone he isn’t.

“Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets”. Through these words Miss Maudie tells us a lot about Atticus’ character and his many qualities.

Miss Maudie meant that Atticus didn’t ever put on faces or pretend that he was someone that he wasn’t while in different circumstances. She meant that he was an extremely honest person who was always truthful and didn’t have double standards. This is shown throughout the novel by Atticus’ unfailing consistency and honesty. He had a strong sense of himself and what he believed in. Atticus demonstrated this when he accepted the case of Tom Robinson whilst knowing that he would lose and that he and his children would be severely criticised by many members of the community that they lived in.

Atticus always listened to people and would think and reflect on what they said before responding. However, if he didn’t think that they would like his answer he wouldn’t respond so as not to cause conflict or compromise his values and beliefs by making up an answer that they’d accept.

I think that Atticus’ most important quality is his high sense of integrity. His truthfulness and honour is demonstrated constantly in the novel, in the way he raises his children and does his job. He was always very sincere and had a high regard for human life.

Atticus set a standard of morality that no other character in the book came close to matching. I think that he had a strong sense of his purpose in life, which he believed was to do his job well and raise his children well, combining his values into both tasks. This is shown when he took Tom Robinson’s case, as his beliefs didn’t allow him to refuse it and his only real concern was the effect it might have on his children.

One of Atticus’ qualities was the way in which he conveyed his values and opinions in a manner that made others consider them and question their own beliefs. He didn’t argue, threaten of laugh at a contradicting point of view, but stated his views calmly and politely but with no hint of doubt in his voice. He did this repeatedly in the court trial, asking the jury to question their prejudices,

The witnesses of the state have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the evil assumption that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negroes are not to be trusted around our woman, an assumption one allocates with minds of their calibre. Which, gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie…(210,211)

Atticus was very open minded and a forward thinker for the time he lived in. He regarded black people as the equals of whites, which was extremely rare opinion in the 1930’s. His strong sense of equality and justice caused him to go against the current belief held by society - that blacks were inferior - and to fight for Tom Robinson on the basis of whether he was innocent or guilty, not whether he was black or white.

Another one of his most important qualities was his amazing ability to understand other people, to “…consider things from (their) point of view…climb into (their) skin and walk around in it” (34). He was never judgmental or had any prejudices but seemed to not only understand others, but accept them for who they were.

Although Atticus unequivocally stood up for what he believed in, he didn’t go looking for a cause to champion. In most circumstances he was a pacifist who avoided conflict, but would always stand his ground and not give in for a cause that he believed in. This is shown on many separate occasions in the novel. One example is when Atticus he stood up to the mob about to lynch Tom Robinson. He was drastically out numbered and in serious danger but his conscious refused to let him simply stand by and let an innocent person be killed. He also demonstrated this quality when he defended Tom Robinson. Although nearly the whole town believed Tom to be guilty, Atticus still defended him to the best of his ability regardless of threats or criticism.

He always stood up for what he believed in even when he would have been congratulated for taking the easy way out and following the beliefs of the rest of the town. He practiced his own words; “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” ( )

Another very important quality of Atticus’ was the love and understanding he showed his children. All through out their childhood he subtly installs in them is own sense of morality and justice. He does this not by simply telling them, but by letting them experience everything and then explaining it to them. As Scout remarks, “There was never anyone or anything that Atticus couldn’t explain.”