Alexus Smyth
Mrs. Hapgood
English I
29 April 2015
To
kill a mockingbird hero essay
“There are some men in this world
who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your fathers one of them” (Lee
215) this quote explains one of the things a hero does. In To Kill a Mockingbird,
Harper Lee shows us that racism was a real problem in the small town of Macomb,
AL, and still is today. The only way to fight racism is for someone to step up
and challenge the issue. That is where Atticus Finch, father of the two main
children, steps in to take the challenge to defend an innocent black man. This
journey that
Atticus takes in To kill a Mockingbird makes him a hero because he never gives
up on what he believes in, he knows that defending a black man will cause people
to talk bad about him, he does It anyway because he knows it’s the right thing
to do.
Maycomb was a small town; nothing ever really happened
other then another white man and a Negro having a little argument now and then.
Everyone had their spot in Maycomb it was all about the caste system. “There
was indeed a caste system in Maycomb, but to my mind it worked this way: the
older citizens, the present generation of people who had lived side by side for
years and years…” (Lee ) the caste system in Maycomb had everyone in a spot,
some were not even fair. The Negros even fit somewhere. Sometimes in higher
places then some of the white people, but no one liked talking about the cast
system. Even though Maycomb was a small, tired, old town, Therewas some drama brewing
when Atticus finch takes on the task of defending Tom Robinson, an innocent
black man, in a case that will soon make history in Maycomb. “…I’d hoped to get
through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and
said you’re it.” This is when Atticus has no choice but to take the case but
not just for him but for his kids as well. He feels that if he did not defend
Tom his children would not look up to him. In the case of Tom Robinson Atticus
knew that he may not win this case even though Tom was innocent. “Atticus, are
we going to win it?” “no, honey.” “ then why—“ “simply because we were licked a
hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 76)
Atticus had his doubts about the case and he knows he is not going to win but
no matter what he is not going to stop trying to defend Tom.
Out of all the characters in to kill a mockingbird, Miss.
Maudie is the best role model/mentor not just for Scout or Jem but for Atticus
as well. She helps him through all the rough parts in his life and when he is
feeling down about the case. “we’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but
when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us.” (Lee 215). Miss Maudie
supports mostly anything Atticus does it’s a good thing because Atticus really
needs it with all the stuff from the case. Miss Maudie gives lot’s od advice to
Atticus not just for the case but for the case but the children as well. Things
in Maycomb start to get really bad when people start to hear that Atticus Finch
is defending a negro. Some people even start to look down on scout and make fun
of her because of her dad. Do all lawyers defend n-negroes, Atticus?” “of
course they so, scout” “ then why did Cecil say you defend niggers? He made it
sound like were runnin a still.” (Lee 75) the kids at Scouts school are
starting to make fun of Scout for when her dad is doing, and a ot of towns
people are getting angrey at Atticus for not purposely doing horrible at
defending Tom. Though Atticus had a lot of people not on his side and angrey at
him, he did have people that were on his side like Judge Taylor, Miss Maudie,
Calpurnia, Aunt Alexandria, and Scout and Jem. They are all trying to help
Atticus, but he did have an enemy, Bob Ewell did not like him at all because he
was not helping him out. “…Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell
approached him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him.” (Lee 217) this is one
od the parts that shows us that Bob and Atticus did not get along very well but
for his allies they all loved im and they all got along perfectly.
Along with everyone in Maycomb talking bad about Atticus
he also had threats brought upon him. Men would come to his house and have
talks with him Atticus about the trial , and when a group of men go to the jail
to go after Tom “…you know what we want ,” another man said. “get aside from
the door, Mr. Finch.” (Lee 151) in this quote these men are trying to get
Atticus to let them through to the cell so they could get to Tom Robinson and
most likely kill him or beat him really bad. When the trial comes around Atticus
starts to feel bad for Mayella he knows she can feel the
pressure of everything but he knows she is not innocent and everything needs to
be fixed and put in the right place but when Atticus starts to question Mayella
she freaks out “Mayella stared at him and burst into tears. She covered her mouth
with her hands and sobbed.” (Lee 179) in this quote she pretends to be scared
of Atticus so people will feel bad for her and believe her more than Tom and
Atticus. But most of the people know its an act and roll their eyes. Later on
in the trial of questioning Mayella her story does not really add up that much so
more people start to believe Atticus which is good for them. She does not
really know what to say so she starts to lie to make her story better. “Do you
remember him beating you about the face?” “No, I don’t recollect if he hit me. I
mean yes I do, he hit me.” Mayella kept changing her story just to make Tom
sound guilty and so her family would get attention they wanted and got but only
for a small amount of time before it all went away. But so far to everyone it
looked like Atticus was going to win the case.
In the end of the trial Atticus does a great speech that
changed a lot of minds there at the trial, he give the evidence that supports
why Tom is innocent and tells people that color should not matter in trials. “but
there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is
one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the
stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any
college president that institution, gentlemen, is a court. (Lee 205) Atticus is
saying that there not treating men equal at this court when they should be but they’re
not. At the end of the long court day the jury goes in to decide if Tom should
be innocent or guilty and after 2 hours they come to a decision. “The foreman
handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tate who handed it to the clerk who handed it to
the judge… I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…”
(Lee 211) this is when everyone finds out that Tom was guilty for the crime he didn’t
commit. Even when there was evidence that proved he wasn’t, but people were
just so racist then that they didn’t care. At the end when Atticus get home
there he finds a huge pile of food and gifts for him from the Negros and
everyone who wanted to say thanks for what he did “they--- ‘preciate what you
did, Mr. Finch. They – they aren’t oversteppin’ themselves, are they,” Atticus’s
eyes filled with tears.” (Lee 213) they all knew what Atticus was doing was
going to be hard and would cost him a lot but they were all great full that he tried
when that know that most people would not.
This journey that Atticus Finch takes in to kill a
Mockingbird makes him a hero because he chose to defend someone that he knew
would most likely not win the case, and he was very brave and committed to
doing his job. Atticus was a true hero because even through the tough people in
Maycomb he could always keep a smile, through the good and the bad he always knew
what to say and when to say things. Atticus was always up for a challenge and
when he was faced with a big one he took is and tried his best. Even though he
may not have won the trial he still made history and is a hero o the family of
Tom and to Atticus’s own kids.
Works Cited Lee, Harper. T Kill a Mockingbird.
Warner Books: New York, 1960.
