Mockingbird Essay

Atticus is a person that wants to make a difference in the world.  Atticus is Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb descended from an old local family. A widower with a dry sense of humor, he is one of the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality. When he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man charged with raping a white woman, he exposes himself and his family to the anger of the white community. With his strongly held wisdom, and empathy, Atticus functions as the novel’s moral backbone.  That is why I picked him to do this essay on.

Every person makes choices and lives with the consequences.  In this case Atticus has a good outcome and a bad one.  While he was making the choice to stand up for Tom Robinson during the trial he has to keep his kids safe and keep himself safe from the displeasing word people say about them and to them.  There are many points in the story when Atticus has to find ways for his towns people to understand that Tom Robinson has done nothing to wrong.

The outcome of this decision he has made is good and bad.  I believe that he changed the way people think in Maycomb.  When he is defending Tom, he gets his kids into it as well.  They almost get killed once, they get bullied at school, and more.  When they go to after the trail though they are treated great.  All because there father made a difference in the community.  Although the community just changed like that, he did something more than just change them.  I believe that he motivated them to be different that they were.  

" ’If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?’ " Scout said to her father.  In response Atticus said,  " ’For a number of reasons,". "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again. […] Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one's mine, I guess.’ "                    (http://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/atticus-finch.html).

Atticus is not only a man for equality for everyone but a great father trying to teach his kids about life.  When Atticus gives the kids air rifles he says that they can shot at any bird they want besides Mockingbirds because they don't eat anyone's plants or harm anything all they do is make music.  Mockingbird has a metaphorical meaning too, anyone who is weak or defenceless,  to kill a Mockingbird in that sense is like taking advantage of someone weaker than you.  This was one of the four lessons that Scout learned throughout the book.  

Scout learns many lessons from Atticus that is one of the good outcomes of his choice to defend Tom Robinson in court.  He does not only teach Scout the lessons but teaches the community about how the world is not fair,and that even when people are different that they are the same.  We are all equal people, no one person has a better purpose to be here than the other.  In a way Atticus did win over the courtroom, they just didn't want to change the way they thought throughout the whole book.