Atticus is a morally upright individual who is fair and tolerant throughout the novel. Several scenes depict Atticus as a fair individual. In Chapter 9, Francis calls Atticus a "nigger-lover," and Scout punches him in the face. Uncle Jack quickly grabs Scout and spanks her for hitting Francis. When they arrive home, Scout tells Uncle Jack that he's not fair. She then says,
Well, in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it—you just lit right into me. When Jem an' I fuss Atticus doesn't ever just listen to Jem's side of it, he hears mine too (Lee 54).
Scout's comment about how Atticus listens to both her and Jem's stories depicts his fair personality.
In Chapter 16, Atticus explains to Jem and Scout that Walter Cunningham is still a good person even though he attempted to lynch Tom Robinson. Atticus gives Walter the benefit of the doubt by saying,
Mr. Cunningham's basically a good man. . . he just has his blind spots along with the rest of us (Lee 97).
Atticus easily could have criticized Walter for his behavior, but Atticus is fair and blames Walter's decision to harm Tom Robinson on mob mentality.
No comments:
Post a Comment