How Is Atticus Idealistic

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In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the character Atticus has the personality trait of being idealistic. He always looks for a positive outcome of not so positive situations. Whenever Scout is trying to be good or not fight, Atticus finds a way to show her that she can do it. He never let the problems he has faced impact his positive view of the future. One way that Atticus has shown he is idealistic was when he was trying to stop Scout from beating up the kids at her school. Atticus had made a not so popular decision and because of this, the kids at Scouts school called him names and fun of her dad. Scout tried standing up for him by beating the others up, but Atticus didn’t want that. “...you just hold your head high and keep those fists down.”(pg.101, …show more content…

He believed that Scout holding her head high was enough for her to through the time without her fighting. Another way Atticus showed himself being idealistic was that he believed he could still fight for the negro he was representing, and win. Atticus knew that the case was doomed and that no one would take the word of a negro over that of a white man, but he stilled tried. Atticus knew the impact that the case would have on his children, but he knew that he had to try and fight for this man. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us to not to try to win.”(p.g.101, Lee) This shows Atticus being idealistic because he knew that the outcome would probably be bad but he continued to try and change that. He knew that the case would be a very difficult one to win, but that no matter what he had to try. A final way that Atticus is idealistic was that he believed that even in times of immense stress, they should still be level-headed. When Jem broke after hearing Ms.Dubose say horrible things about his family and father, Atticus tried to teach both him and Scout a

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