My_Hero,_My_Future,_My_Ultimate_Goal

Who is your hero' Is it Michael Jordan' Is it Rosa Park' Is it one of your family members' Atticus Finch, one of the main characters of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the best-known American hero’s who seeks and strives to prove the innocence of a black man. In the process of seeking the truth, or the innocence of a black man, he asked a big question of people. Is it right to have injustice, segregation and discrimination' This big question always raises controversy even nowadays and people must always face this question, think deeply and realize that any discrimination is wrong. Atticus’s gentlemanliness and unusual way of treating people is valiant and very correct although people have different ideas about him. This is a statement that may have changed society then and today’s society. Atticus Finch’s household is unusual in many ways. His children, Scout and Jem, call him ‘Atticus’ rather than calling him ‘Dad’ or ‘Father.’ This may sound rude but there’s a reason behind this. Do you call your friend ‘Sir’ or ‘Mam'’ You don’t, because both you and your friends treat one other as equals and see and respect each other equally. This concept applies to the Finch family. Atticus treats his children as ‘little-adults’ thus his children call him ‘Atticus’ which reveals that they mutually respect one another. His unusual character may seem irresponsible because his children are able to do whatever they want and it certainly caused a number of problems for him in the story. However, Atticus doesn’t scold them like a normal parent would. In fact, when Jem destroyed the camellia bushes belonging to Miss Dubose, Atticus didn’t scold him at all but rather gave him a painful punishment—the punishment was to force Jem to visit Miss Dubose and read to her for a month! No offense, but Miss Dubose was not a pleasant person to visit constantly, as she screamed at whoever she saw from her porch and sent them off with a flea in their ear. Atticus knew about her bad reputation but on the other hand recognized her valiant, inflexible will to overcome her morphine addiction, and hoped Jem would realize her estimable personality. You may think this may be the wrong way to teach a child a lesson. Since children are susceptible to adult’s actions and ideas, there was a risk that Jem could be contaminated by Miss Dubose’s character. However, don’t you think this punishment would humiliate him and teach him that his bad behavior would not be overlooked' Unlike receiving a punishment, like no computer games for a week, Atticus insists on a humiliating punishment so that Jem could face the reality of his actions. According to Atticus’s belief, a normal punishment doesn’t do any good because what they learn from these punishments is extremely small compared to the punishment he feels fits the crime. Atticus thinks of his children’s future when they really have to face the reality of being responsible adults and accepting the outcomes of their actions. Although children, Atticus is not making allowances for the border line between the ‘adult world’ and ‘child’s world.’ This applies to many things in the novel especially when Atticus interacts with black people. Atticus interacts with several black people in the novel and one of the main black characters is Calpurnia, Finch’s maid. The Southern city of Maycomb, Alabama where the story takes place, is full of discrimination and segregation; however, Atticus never discriminates against her or any other blacks person and treats everyone equally. This act was unusual then and even sometimes today. For instance, Atticus’s sister Alexandra wanted to fire Calpurnia because she was from the black community. Calpurnia had done nothing wrong to Alexandra but, for most people in the Maycomb, skin color is of grave concern. Nevertheless, Atticus did not fire Calpurnia. One major reason was because of Atticus’s belief of equality among the people but he knew that both Calpurnia and his children loved and respected one another. Calpurnia is like a mother to Jem and Scout. As the story continues, Atticus has to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman. Normally, an attorney would refuse to take on this task because obviously, it would become a ‘Kangaroo Court’. However, Atticus took the case and defended Tom Robinson regardless of the harm it could do to him and his family. In fact, his children were frightened that Atticus would be killed or beaten up. Atticus’s predominant reason for defending Tom Robinson was not only to find the truth but to make a statement. Tom was innocent and everyone in the court, including the judge and the jury, knew this. Therefore, Atticus needed to make a statement that if people don’t stop segregating of black and white people, society will never progress. “This case is easy as blacks and whites.” This is the Atticus’s first line of his closing statement. The whole case is simple; Tom is black meaning he is guilty, even if innocent! At the end of his closing statement, he says, “…there is not a person in this courtroom, who never told a lie, who has never done a immortal act, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire. All men, all people are created equal. This is not true. We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe 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 and that institution, gentlemen, is a court.” Atticus needed to make this statement that anyone is capable of committing a sin. Anyone can be immortal and sadly, some are not treated as they should. However, in a court, all men and women, all adults and children, young and old are equal. Moreover, Tom Robinson was innocent; on the contrary he helped Mayella Ewell, his accuser and also a lonely girl with no friends. Again, Atticus saw Tom’s tenderness just as he saw it in other people and strived to help Mayella too. Even though the court was meant to promote equality, Tom was convicted of raping Mayella. However, by raising this argument in court is a statement that made people think about the reality of segregation and discrimination, and the reality of life in Maycomb. Even now discrimination exists and people distinguish between white and black, Christian and Jewish, boys and girls. Suppose we don’t treat people differently regardless of their race, religion or gender' Some would say social hierarchy would disappear without a trace and the whole world would be tossed into confusion. However, there are surely many benefits if we were able to abolish these differences. We should see what these people could contribute to society rather than maintaining the status quo. We need to acknowledge the risks of abolishing the status quo but look at what Atticus achieved. Instead of seeing the superficial he sees what’s deep within. In his dealings with Miss Dubose, he saw her valiant, inflexible will to overcome her morphine addiction. And, in his dealings with Calpurnia, he saw her great adoration of his children. And too, with Tom Robinson, he saw Tom’s tenderness and kindness towards Mayella Ewell. By not pre-judging people, he was able to see people’s true colors. This rare, unusual way of thinking, a way of treating people and his great desire leads me to declare him as a ‘hero’ even though he is just a character in a book. We all have to face the reality of barriers that we can create and must strive to change society as a whole.