How Is Atticus Finch A Good Role Model

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Building Blocks
Some may say that people are meant to forge their own way in life, that they control their own course. However, that is not the full reality. A person’s role models become the basic building blocks of thought process and personality in most cases. One of the most famous fictitious positive role models of all time is the character of Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM). His influence on his children and possibly on the reader is different from the norm at the time of the book.
Atticus’ goal in life was not just to be a fair and honest person, but to be a good example to his children, a good parent. He showed his children the truth behind the Thomas Jefferson quote he used in court: the lack of difference …show more content…

The most common forms are probably influence and negative action toward the effected. Bob Ewell, a major antagonist in TKAM, is a great example of both. For the first form, his character shows him to be a negative influence on Mayella, creating a deep driving force behind the events which lead to the trial. He also appears to have abused her, fulfilling the second. UTKAM says, “Ewell is a drunk who… physically abuses his daughter,” (Bernard 61). If a “role model” thrusts someone down in either way, then they may stay down for many reasons.
A third way a family member or role model could negatively impact a person is through others. If the family member performs a negative deed, then the influenced or relative may be judged or expected to do something similar, even if such conclusions are wrong. A perfect example of this is seen in Mockingbird. Josh, who appears to be “a bully” at the beginning of the book, is a cousin to one of the shooters. His becoming cruel is due to the shaming he receives from others because of his cousin’s actions. How others view a person’s role model or family lays the ground of the relationship, its future, and its

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