My Favourite Character in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Dear Readers,

Blog Prompt: Harper Lee’s novel is full of interesting and richly painted characters. Which character was your favourite and why?

Today, I will be sharing with you my favourite character in the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird". He is none other than MR ATTICUS FINCH.

Firstly, I feel that he is a devoted family man. Atticus is a sensitive, honest and straightforward parent. He treats his children as thinking adults and answers their questions fully, not treating them as “childish”. Atticus does not spoil his children but instead treat them as rational beings. He is truthful to both Scout and Jem. Even though he was a single parent, he was able to raise his children very well, which is a rather amazing feat! Most importantly, he practises what he preaches (see: post "Practise What You Preach") and sets an outstanding example for his children to emulate.

In addition, he is a man of substance. I will break this down into four sub-points.

He is courageous, as he dared to defend a Negro, knowing that he would in a way be opposing the entire white community. However, Atticus insisted in fighting this seemingly hopeless struggle with sincerity, even though he knew he had no chance of winning. I would like to quote Atticus's description of courage as knowing “your licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what”.

Next, he is a well-mannered person. Even when someone expresses a dislike towards him he will still try to do his best to look at the good side of the person instead. His conduct is always courteous despite any conflicts. A good example would be when Bob Ewell spat at him during the trial, and yet, Atticus remained nonchalant about it.

Tolerance is yet another one of his virtues. Atticus is open-minded and will accept each individual's beliefs, regardless of whether they differ from his own or not. He is also greatly respected throughout Maycomb County and shows this by respecting others.

He displays integrity as well, because he is one amongst few who felt that coloured people should be able to have the same standard of living as their white counterparts. He despises the social status system as well as the segregation of whites from blacks.

Last but not least, he does not believe in violence. Although he was a marksman with amazing accuracy, he did not use the gun to protect himself when he had to face the mob at the county jail as well as when Bob Ewell threatened to attack him.

Atticus displays qualities and skills that I would like to emulate. He is truly someone who can be relied and looked upon as being an outstanding individual!

Best Regards,
Nathan :)