Atticus Finch The Satisfactory Father?

Transcription

1 Atticus Finch The Satisfactory Father? There is much to be said about Atticus as a father. Some of the most telling details are revealed in Part 1 of the novel. Many of the attitudes towards him formed by Scout and Jem are challenged and changed during the course of what happens. He is one of the most sympathetically written and developed fathers in literature, with Gregory Peck s Oscar-winning portrayal of him cementing this role for generations of readers. The first opinion that Scout gives of her father is during her description of Maycomb: Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment. Given the matter-of fact narrative style so far delivered by the young Scout, this is perhaps, not as insulting as it first sounds. However, it does seem to be a good example of damning with faint praise. Atticus has done nothing, in the eyes of Scout at least, that marks him out as either a remarkable, or unremarkable father. He is a man of great morality, who is aware of the prejudices that abound in the society he inhabits and tries to deal fairly with all of his clients regardless of their ethnic origins.

2 He treats his two children kindly, but as mini-adults, striving to instil in them the same sense of morals he is in possession of himself. He will not join in with the salacious gossip of the town and his reaction to his children s curiosity is to tell them to mind their own business: Atticus never talked much about the Radleys: when Jem would question him Atticus s only answer was for him to mind his own business and let the Radley s mind theirs. He allows the children to make up their own minds. He has his own opinions about the Radleys but allows the children to come to their own conclusions about them. One of the immediately noticeable features about Atticus s relationship with his children is that they both call him Atticus rather than the more formal father or the informal closeness of Dad. This is not really explained, but seemed to be part of the way he wishes to raise his children, not in a sentimental way but as thoughtful young people. Maycomb is not a sentimental place and Atticus represents how this plays out on a daily basis. Just as there is no place in the lives of the children for imaginative literature, there is no place for over-sentimentalised relationships. He has been part of Scout s education for as long as she can remember helping her to read by reading articles from the local newspaper to her anything Atticus happened to be reading when I crawled into his lap every night. Atticus dispenses one of his many pearls of wisdom to Scout after she has confessed all about her first day at school. These are almost like life lessons for the reader coming direct from Harper Lee: You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it This is may be not the response that Scout was hoping for but it does illustrate Atticus s method of fathering everything is something to be learned from.

3 Atticus speaks to his children as if they are grown-ups and expects them to tell him if they do not understand him: Jem and I were accustomed to our father s last-will-antestament diction, and we were free at all times to interrupt for a translation. It seems that Atticus speaks like a lawyer most of the time but expects questioning from his children something that many parents of the time would definitely not have encouraged. He is quite a liberal parent in this respect. Atticus even reveals a more humorous side to his nature when he uses the same serious tone to tell the children a funny story about a man who sat on top of a pole. Unlike many parent Atticus is honest in his discussion of Tom Robinson s case with his children right from the start: I m simply defending a negro, his name is Tom Robinson If I didn t I couldn t hold my head up in this town, I couldn t even tell you and Jem not to do something again Atticus s place as an honourable man is the key to his character he will not always do what is popular but he will always do what he believes to be right.

4 Atticus s age has long been an issue in the children s perception of him they found it a mild embarrassment that when their classmates were bragging about their fathers, there was little to say about Atticus: Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty.. he never went hunting, he did not play poker or fish or drink or smoke. It is interesting that at this point the reader is percieving him only through the eyes of the children with their limited knowledge of him historically. They only see what is in the present moment and their view is sometimes rather narrow because of this. The incident with the mad dog illustrates the point that there is more to Atticus than the children know. They have been allowed to have their own guns, as would have been customary at the time, but their use is guided by another pearl of wisdom from Atticus: Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit em, but remember it s a sin to kill a mockingbird The mockingbird goes on to provide the symbol of various people in the novel not least of whom is Tom Robinson, the man their father is about to defend. The rabid dog, Tim Johnson would have posed a very real threat in the neighbourhood a bite from such an animal would mean a slow and painful death to anyone. Atticus seems just like any other of the bystanders waiting for Heck Tate to shoot the dog. It is only when he hands the gun to Atticus that something more revealing happens: Take him Mr Finch this is a one shot job.. The description that follows of Atticus preparing to shoot makes him seem hapless dropping his glasses on to the floor and not looking very comfortable.again the incident is described from Scout s perspective she knows nothing of his past or his

5 shooting ability but assumes that it is something that Atticus cannot do because she has never seen him do it. It reinforces how young Scout is and also the modesty of Atticus as a father: Atticus pushed his glasses to his forehead; they slipped down, and he dropped them in the street.. I heard them crack. Atticus rubbed his eyes and chin. He blinked hard It seems that all the adults are aware of his shooting prowess, and are not surprised when he takes out the dog with a single shot: I saw that, one-shot Finch Well Miss Jean-Louise, still think your father can t do anything? Still ahamed of him? Atticus Finch was the deadest shot in Maycomb County The children are, of course astounded by these revelations about their father. As always, with Atticus there is a lesson to be learned: Maybe he put his gun down when he realised that God gave him an unfair advantage over most living things people in their right minds never take pride in their talents The children learn that there is more to their father than they thought and would now assess him as slightly better than satisfactory. Their gaining of new knowledge of him is part of their growing up and entering into his world.