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Relationship between parent and child
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When reading chapters four through nine I was evaluating how Atticus treats people. The first people I will evaluate is Jem and Scout. Atticus has a different relationship with each of his children. When Scout got in a fight at school Atticus told her to stop fighting and instead fight with her head. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore; I was far too old and too big for childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be” (Lee 85). Usually when children get into fights at school parents get furious, instead Atticus just advised her to try something new. At Christmas Atticus got Scout what she wanted, which was an air rifle. During the Christmas season parents that have a good …show more content…
When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em” (Lee 99). Parents sometimes tell a white lie to children but eventually they will tell them the truth. The other child Atticus has is his son named Jem. Jem had an idea for a game called “Boo Radley”. When Atticus arrives home to discover this, he was not happy and ordered them to stop. When parents order their kids to stop that means they care for them and do not want them to make a mistake. At the end of summer Jem, Dill, and Scout went into the backyard of the Radley’s. On the way out Jem got stuck on the fence, so he left his pants behind because Mr. Radley heard something and shot into the air to scare them away. Atticus noticed that Jem was not wearing pants and questioned this. After hearing that the children were playing strip poker Atticus gave a disappointing look. When kids appear without clothes or with scratches parents are concerned with what happened. The other people in Atticus’s life are the Cunninghams and Calpurnia. Atticus respects Calpurnia and would never get rid of
Jem and Scouts’ father, Atticus, is very misjudged by their children. They believe that Atticus is a very semantic man that goes to work, comes back, and has no skill whatsoever in sports. Scout criticizes Atticus by saying “Atticus did not… or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone”(118). This demonstrates that Jem and Scout are not satisfied with Atticus’s physical and amusing skills. They thought of him as an old man in his fifties that had no energy left, and had a routine of going to bed and reading in the living room instead of running around. Later, they visit there across the street neighbor, Mrs. Maudie to talk about how boring their Dad is, when Mrs. Maudie says” ‘Well, he can make everybody’s will so airtight can’t anybody meddle with him’… ‘Well, did you know he is the best checker-player in this town? Why down at the Landing when we were coming up, Atticus Finch could beat everybody on both sides of the river”(120). This establishes that they find out that their Dad isn’t so useless anymore. Even though the children find out all these activities he is excellent at, sometimes even the best, they are still not overly impressed. After Calpurnia calls the cops on the dog, Tim Johnson, The sheriff and Atticus arrive at the scene “ ‘Take him, Mr. Finch’. Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Attics; Jem and I nearly fainted…’’d you see him, Scout? ’d you see him just standing there?...’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it looked like that gun was a part of him’”(126-129).
In addition to being a lawyer, Atticus enjoys being a father to Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout found out that their father would be defending a black person, they knew immediately that there would be much controversy, humiliation from the people of Maycomb and great difficulty keeping Tom alive for the trial. It was not long when Atticus had to leave the house very late to go to jail, where Tom was kept because many white people wanted to kill him. Worrying about their father, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house to find him. A self-appointed lynch mob has gathered on the jail to take justice into their own hands. Scout decides to talk to Walter Cunningham, one of the members of the mob. She talks about how her father Atticus thought that "entailments are bad "(154 ) " and that his boy Walter is a real nice boy and tell him I said hey"(154). Upon hearing this, the mob realized that Atticus cannot be all bad if he has such a nice daughter as Scout. Atticus, with some unexpected help from his children, faces down the mob and cause them to break up the potential lynching of the man behind bars. Having gone to a black church earlier, the children found out that Tom is actually a kind person, church-going and a good husband and father to his children.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, readers can view Atticus as a positive parental figure for a variety of reasons. One piece of evidence that points to this is that Atticus cares about his children. Although Atticus does not show his affection towards his children traditionally or frequently, he shows it in his own ways. Some parents hug and kiss their children, but not Atticus. Atticus’ way of showing affection to Jem is by ruffling his hair. An example of this occurs when Atticus and his children are walking home from the jail house following the mob scene. Scout states that she thought Atticus was going to be irritated at Jem for his lack of compliance. However, Scout states that “as they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged
Atticus continuously tells her that this is wrong and that she needs to learn to control her anger, “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat? Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 101). The day after this discussion with Atticus, Scout is approached by a fellow student who had previously made a mean comment about her father. “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away.it was the first time I ever walked away from a fight” (Lee 102).
He treats all people of Maycomb fairly including his African-American maid, Calpurnia. In fact, he treats her like family. When his sister complained about living with Calpurnia, Atticus stood up for her saying “She’s a faithful member of this family and you'll have to accept the way thing are”. African American maids were not treated kindly but, Atticus saw through her race and thought of her as family. He even stood up for her against his own sister, teaching his kids to treat everyone fairly despite the color of their skin. Scout then takes her father’s lessons into account when talking to Mr.Cunningham. In the midst of the lynching mob, Scout greets Mr. Cunningham. She says “Hey Mr.Cunningham! How's your entailment?”. She remembers that “Atticus said it was polite to talk to people about what they were interested in” and applied the lesson when talking to Mr.Cunningham. Atticus also stays calm in the face of disrespect. Throughout the book, Atticus receives disrespectful comments about him and his family because of the case and tells Scout to keep her head up and not let them bother her. Staying true to his word, he stays calm when Mr.Ewell cussed at him and intentionally spat on his face. After Mr.Ewell spat, “Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out a handkerchief and wiped his face… And let Mr.Ewell call him names”. Atticus does not lose his temper and handled the situation
Atticus considers himself and his children as equals. For example, Scout asks Atticus why he defends a Negro: “... If I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to mind me again” (100). Atticus is portraying to Scout that if he did not act righteously by defending Tom Robinson he would be ashamed of himself, and he could not hold authority to his children. Atticus treats his children as if they were his peers, which illustrates how he values equality. Furthermore, Atticus wants to provide an egalitarian lifestyle for his children. For instance, Atticus explains to Mr. Tate why he does not want to cover up the truth for Jem if he had killed Mr. Ewell: “... Sometimes I think I'm a total failure as a parent, but I'm all they've got. Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I've tried to live so I can look squarely back at him… if I connived at something like this, frankly I couldn’t meet his eye, and they day I can't do that I'll know I've lost him. I don't want to lose him and Scout, because they're all I've got” (366). Atticus knows since Scout and Jem had to grow up without a mother, his children look up to him immensely. Atticus wants to live an honest life so his children can look at him with pride, and to do that he treats his children as his equals. In brief, Atticus is not only egalitarian by not having racial prejudice but also by his parenting
Scout and Jem are very close. They are very protective of each other and worry about each other often. When Jem, Scout , and Dill went to the Radley house at night Jem’s pants became stuck on the fence. Jem went to retrieve his pants and Scout wanted to come with to help and protect him, but Jem did not let her because he was protecting her making sure that she would not hurt herself. When Jem was gone Scout waiting for him to return because she was worried he would hurt himself. Another example is when Jem and Scout were attacked by Bob Ewell. Before they were attacked Jem thought he heard someone following them so Jem walked with his hand on Scout’s head worried about her and trying to protect her. When Mr. Ewell attacked them, they were trying to help each other and protect each other. After the attack while Jem was unconscious Scout was even more worried about Jem then she was before. Scout learns from Jem as well. An example is that Jem taught Scout and Dill the history of the Radleys and the superstitions that the town has of Boo Radley. The actions of Jem and Scout reveal the close relationship that they have with each
Although Atticus would play keep away in football, he wouldn’t allow Jem to tackle him. Jem felt that his dad should allow him to tackle him, but Atticus responded with the statement that he was too old. "Jem was football crazy. Atticus was never too tired to play keep-away, but when Jem wanted to tackle him, Atticus would say, I 'm too old for that, son."(pg.118). As the story progresses, they begin to see their dad in a different view. After Atticus shoots the rabid dog, Scout and Jem starts to respect and admiration for him increased dramatically. They gain a new respect for him as the novel closes. Both Jem and Scout realize what a great man Atticus is. They realize that he is a good person who works hard to defend Tom Robinson and overall on his job as well. They soon have a great amount of respect for their father when he was defending Tom Robinson. He sets a good example and cares about his
Atticus is a great leader of his family, teaching his children morals and life lessons. He makes them better people by showing them how to deal with the trial and people making fun of them. Atticus teaches Scout how to respect other people. First, Scout learns to respect Atticus, then to respect "Boo" Radley, and finally to respect a whole race of people, negroes. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and thus displays the attributes of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Throughout the trial process, Atticus shows Jem and Scout that true courage is standing up for what you believe in and that all human beings, despite their race, deserve respect. "You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This quote shows that Atticus wants his children to get along with people, and so other people will respect them for whom they are.
Jem was able to politely explain to several adults that they were not causing issues and that their father, Atticus Finch, could not see them. Jem had tried to be respectful and knowledgeable so that he would not be perceived as a child unaware of what was really going
The story “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about Scout Finch and her family and how they are affected throughout the court case of Tom Robinson. In chapters 12-15 of the novel Atticus is preparing for the court case of Tom Robinson. Aunt Alexandra also decided that she is going to stay with them for a while so she could give Scout and Jem a “feminine influence”. Jem and Scout go to church with Calpurnia and Aunt Alexandra doesn’t like it. Dill shows up after running away from home because he says his parents aren’t paying enough attention to him. Aunt Alexandra tries to push Atticus into getting rid of Calpurnia but Atticus refuses. A group shows up outside their house and talk with Atticus. Atticus goes to Tom Robinson's cell and the kids follow.
Atticus teaches his children to consider things from another persons point of view. Atticus Finch’s teaching proves that he is a good father to Jem and Scout because he explains things that the children don’t comprehend. Atticus tells his children about mob mentality, he states “Mr. Cunningham is basically a good man... he just has a blind spot along with the rest of us” (Lee 97). Atticus is relating to the fact that although Mr. Cunningham is essentially a decent man, he is also racist.
One major lesson Atticus teaches Jem and Scout, is to respect others. Atticus thought them not to be rude with family members; despite what they say. Scout beat up Francis because he called Atticus a "Niger-lover!"(p.110) and Atticus gets her in trouble. When Scout got in trouble by Atticus it showed Scout that it was not right to beat him up even though he said what he said. Atticus taught the kids to mind there own business. When Atticus tells the kids to leave Boo Radley alone and not to believe it the rumors they are hearing. When Atticus told them to leave Boo Radley alone and not to believe ...
They are very imaginative kids always making up new games and other things to pass the time. In the beginning of the book they are obsessed with one of their neighbors, Boo Radley. They think that Boo is a crazy man that killed his parents. Jem, Scout, and their cousin, Dill, decide to go up and see if they can see what is going on inside the Radley house. Once they get up to the house they hear a noise and run off, but Jem loses his pants of a fence wire.
4) Jem is more reserved than Scout as he sees her as the aggravating sister so he doesn’t want to see her at school because he thinks that he will be embarrassed because the way she reacts to people. Each summertime in Maycomb County the kids have their best friend Dill drop in to hang out all summer. All they do is play fun games but one summer they played a game called Boo Radley where they play as the Radley’s. Atticus found out about the game and told the kids not to play it again but Jem and Dill had a master plan to just rename the characters.