Instilling Conscience Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout in Harper Lee s To Kill a Mockingbird, is not the type of father who plays football or goes fishing. However, he is a father who is intelligent, compassionate, fair, and committed to making sure his children are good people who can follow their conscience and abide by their own internal sense of what is right and wrong even when others say otherwise. Because his wife died when Jem and Scout were children, Atticus has the ultimate responsibility for instilling conscience in his children. Atticus takes this responsibility seriously, and it is through his words and deeds that he provides the children with a framework for making decisions based on what is right and wrong. Atticus may not go hunting and fishing with his children, but he speaks with them openly and honestly. He makes time for them when they need to discuss issues or are having a bad day. The conversations Atticus has with his children are a big part of how Atticus tries to instill conscience in them. After Scout tells Atticus about her run in with Miss Caroline on the first day of school, Atticus has a conversation with her about seeing things from another s perspective. First of all, he said, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- Sir? -until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (30). By suggesting that Scout try to see things from another perspective, Atticus tries to instill in her a sense of empathy and understanding. For Atticus, putting one s self in another s shoes is the right way to live.
Another time, Atticus talks to Jem, Scout, and Dill about the right way to live is when he explicitly tells him to stop tormenting [Boo Radley] (49). He says not to make fun of Boo Radley, and if they want to speak with him, they should do it in a civilized manner. Through his reprimand, Atticus tells the children it is wrong to pester and ridicule people, especially someone like Boo Radley who makes every attempt to stay out of the public view. Through his deeds, Atticus also instills a conscience in his children. Sometimes he discusses his deeds with his children, explicitly talking with them about the principles underlying them, but other times, he models quietly. Most of what Atticus explains to the children about his own behavior concerns the Tom Robinson case. Kids at school, townspeople, and even Francis, Jem and Scout s cousin, say nasty things to Jem and Scout regarding Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Since so many in Maycomb seem opposed to what Atticus is doing, Scout is confused about whether her father is doing the right thing. Scout asks him about this one night. Atticus acknowledges that there s some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn t do much about defending this man (75). Scout asks: If you shouldn t be defendin him, then why are you doing it? For a number of reasons, said Atticus. The main one is, if I didn t I couldn t hold my head up in town. I couldn t represent the county in the legislature. I couldn t even tell you or Jem to do something again (76). Atticus explains to Scout that if he does not defend Tom to the best of his ability he would be betraying his conscious and could no longer consider himself as a decent and upstanding man. Later in Part 1, Atticus talks with Scout again
about the case, saying that he understands how difficult it must be for her and Jem to put up with what others say about Atticus and the case. Atticus says: -well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you ll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn t let you down. This case, the Tom Robinson case, is something that goes to the essence of a man s conscience Scout, I couldn t go to church and worship God if I didn t try to help that man (104). Again, Scout shows her confusion over whether he is doing the right thing by telling Atticus that he must be wrong in defending Tom Robinson since everyone else thinks he is. Atticus explains: They re certainly entitled to think that, and they re entitled to full respect for their opinions but before I can live with other folks, I ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn t abide by majority rule is a person s conscience (105). By taking the Tom Robinson case and vowing to give him a full defense because he believes that it is the right thing to do, Atticus instills conscience in his children and teaches them to follow their own sense of right and wrong rather than that of other people. When Atticus talks about the Tom Robinson case, he makes explicit his ideas about conscience and how individuals have to live by their own internal sense of what is right. According to Atticus s way of thinking, a person cannot be lead by what all of the people around him/her think. A person cannot take the safe way because then he/she wouldn t be able to live with him/herself and couldn t see him/herself as someone worthy of worshipping God. Through his own example of taking the case even though he knows they were licked a hundred years before [they] started (76) and have no chance of winning, Atticus helps Jem and Scout gain the courage it takes to follow one s own conscience. Even though Atticus tries to instill conscience in his children through his deeds, he doesn t always explain his deeds to them. Sometimes others in the neighborhood help Jem and Scout see how Atticus s deeds reflect his sense of right and wrong. This is the case when Jem and Scout learn about pride and humility. In Part 1 of the novel, Scout laments about the advanced age and lack of
vigor of her father. Jem and Scout feel like their father can t do anything. Scout writes, Atticus did not drive a dump-truck for the county, he was not a sheriff, he did not farm, work in a garage, or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone (88). These feelings change when Atticus kills Tim Johnson, a rabid dog, with one shot, and Jem and Scout learn that when Atticus was younger he was the deadest shot in Maycomb County (98). After Atticus shoots Tim Johnson, he goes back to town without explaining his hidden talent to the children or telling them why he chose to keep it a secret. Instead, it s Miss Maudie who explains: I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things. I guess he decided he wouldn t shoot till he had to, and he had to today. Look like he d be proud of it, I said. People in their right minds never take pride in their talents, said Miss Maudie (98). Miss Maudie helps the children see that according to Atticus s way of thinking, it is not right to flaunt your talents or use them unfairly. Through his own example of keeping his amazing shooting ability secret, Scout and Jem begin to understand that Atticus considers humility a central quality. Probably the most significant way Atticus seeks to instill conscience in his children is by being the same man in his house as he is on the public streets (47). As Scout explains, Atticus don t ever do anything to Jem and me in the house that he don t do in the yard (47). Atticus lives his life honestly and openly, and his lack of hypocrisy or bending to the beliefs and will of others is a model for the children of how to behave in a way that is morally upright. And although the children don t always do the right thing-scout gets in fights, Jem destroys Mrs. Dubose s flowers-they have a great deal of respect for their father and try to behave in ways that would make him proud. One of the things I liked about Atticus is that even though he is a good man who tries to live his life the best he can and raise his children the best he can, he is not a goodie-two-shoes. Lee is able to present him as a regular guy even thought he is heroic in this book. One of the ways she does this is through the way he talks. Although he talks a lot in legal terminology, he is always careful to
make sure his children understand what he says and so he chooses his words carefully. He glanced at me, saw I was listening, and made it easier (219). Also, when he is angry with the children, he lets them know rather than talking down to them about how they are disappointing him. Lee creates a character that isn t righteous or holier than thou by the way he interacts with his children and with others. Atticus is a wise man, committed to justice and equality, and his parenting style is based on fostering these virtues in his children. Throughout Part 1 of the novel, Atticus works to develop Scout s and Jem s respective consciences, through both his words and his actions. He is someone who talks the talk and walks the walk, and that is what ultimately leads Jem and Scout to want to be like him. Atticus has a lot to lose by taking the Tom Robinson case, but because he s committed to justice and raising his children to be individuals who follow their own sense of right and wrong, he takes the caser despite the potential consequences. It is that kind of behavior and way of being that probably let to him being named the number one hero in the last 100 years by the American Film Industry.