Christ-figure *Sacrifices to save others * Is good with kids *Defers (obeys) to the God-head *Dies *ADVOCATES (argues for something like a lawyer) for criminals/sinners/the accused *Tries to save the unworthy *Is sent by the God-head *Sends the Holy Spirit to comfort and/or save * Teaches in aphorisms and parables *Is very forgiving *Is in agony (mental/physical) *See the article Yes, she s a Christ-figure, too!) for other attributes. Character Examples of how he/she represents this Person (C) Supporting Quotes w/pg. # s Atticus Unmarried and celibate Atticus wife died, so he is unmarried and celibate Atticus Offers the gift of salvation Atticus offers the Havefords the opportunity to live, but they refuse it and receive the death penalty. our mother died when I was two so I never felt her absence p. 7 Atticus Defers to/obeys the God-head When Judge Taylor asks, Atticus accepts the job of defending Tom Robinson. Atticus Advocates Atticus advocates for Tom Robinson s innocence. Atticus He s good with kids Atticus is good with all the children in the county: Walter Cunningham (feeds him and treats him as a worthy guest, recognizes his expertise and speaks to him on those subjects), Dill(advocates for him when he runs away and enables him to stay in Maycomb), Jem & Scout (he raises them to be good people because it s the right thing to do, not just out of fear of punishment), the Ewells(understands the children s aversion to school, understands their need for their father to hunt out of season, accepts public humiliation to keep the children from receiving Bob Ewell s abusive rage). Atticus Sacrifices to save others Atticus sacrifices his reputation and life to defend Tom Robinson. People who disparage Atticus reputation: Cecil Jacobs, Frances, Mrs. Dubose, the Idler s Club Bob Ewell and the two mobs threaten his life. Risks his life to save the town from the rabid or mad dog. When a child asks you something, answer him they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion just muddles em. p. Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, and treated us with courteous detachment. p. 6 I guess it ain t mortify the rest of the family p. 110 he s nothing but a *?% lover. p. Take him, Mr. Finch. Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Atticus. (126) deadest shot in Maycomb County. (129) Atticus Is sent by the God-head Judge Taylor chooses Atticus to defend Tom Robinson Heck Tate insists that Atticus shoot the rabid dog John Taylor pointed at me and said You re it. (p. 88 or 117) Let this cup pass from you, eh? (p. 88 or 117) Did it ever strike you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend that boy was no accident? 289
Atticus Is the Chosen One, the ONLY one who can do the saving He s the only one who can kill the mad dog. He s the only one who can defend Tom well. He s the one who can be Christ-like. Atticus Expects/strives for perfection/better more powerful than anyone else He s usually a perfect shot. Atticus Is very forgiving Atticus is very forgiving of Mrs. Dubose though she speaks badly of both him and his children. Atticus Tries to save the unworthy The people in the town would consider Tom unworthy of saving, yet Atticus tries to. Mrs. Dubose is quite unworthy of Atticus help since she speaks so horribly about him and his children, yet he helps save her from her addiction. He tries to save those murdering Havefords by getting them life in prison rather than the death penalty, but they refuse to admit their guilt. He attempts to save Mayella and the other Ewell children from being abused by her father by accepting Bob Ewell s face-saving attempt to humiliate Atticus. (get the quote that tells about the spitting) Boo Radley Sacrifices himself to save others Boo sacrifices his life to save Jem and Scout from Mr. Ewell. Atticus Teaches with aphorisms Atticus has a saying that he uses to get people to consider life from others points-of-view. Tom Reveals truth Tom reveals what really happened the night of the crime. Heck Tate Saves others Heck saves Boo from getting his nerves torn up by the attention he Mr. Finch, this is a one-shot job. 126 I saw that, One-Shot Finch! 128 deadest shot in Maycomb County. (129) Atticus won t win, he can t win, but he is the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that. 289 We re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we ve got men like Atticus to go for us. 288 if he shot fifteen times and hit fourteen doves he d complain about wasting ammunition. 129-30 Marksmanship s a gift of God 130 he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things 130 Then why did Cecil runnin a still. p. 77 Scout, you aren t old enough defending this man. p. 77 Your father s no better than the *%$ and trash he works for. p. 105 Somebody was staggerin around and pantin and coughing fit to die. I thought it was Jem at first, but it didn t sound like him, so I went lookin for Jem on the ground. I thought Atticus had come to help us and had got wore out. Why there he is, Mr. Tate, he can tell you his name. Hey, Boo, I said. (p. 362) Once time he said walk around in them. P. 374 Tom, you re sworn to tell the whole truth. Will you tell it? (259) THE PROBLEM WITH THIS ANSWER IS THAT HECK COMES UP WITH THE PLAN, BUT IT TAKES ATTICUS
would get if the town found out that he is a hero. AGREEMENT/OBEDIENCE TO MAKE IT WORK. IF ATTICUS HAD INSISTED UPON HOLDING TO THE LETTER OF THE LAW, BOO WOULD HAVE HAD TO TESTIFY ABOUT KILLING BOB EWELL, AND MR. TATE S PLAN WOULD HAVE FAILED NOT THAT BOO WOULD HAVE BEEN PUNISHED BY THE LAW; THE TOWN S PRAISE WOUL D HAVE BEEN BOO S PUNISHMENT. THIS IS EVIDENCE OF HECK TATE S ACTING AS THE GOD-HEAD. TOPIC SENTENCE for Christ-figure paragraph: In order to save these people, Harper Lee employs a Christ-figure.
God-head figure *Associated with fatherhood, as one of His names is God the Father *Is the 1st person of the Trinity, so He has highest authority *Has authority regarding the LAW (Commandments) *Sends the Christ-figure to save others *Comes up with the plan to save others *Sits in judgment *omniscient Character Examples of how he/she represents this Person (G-h) Supporting Quotes w/pg. # s Judge Taylor Sends the Christ to save others Judge Taylor chooses Atticus to save Tom Judge Taylor Has authority regarding the law He was a man learned in the law, and although he seemed to take his job casually, in Judge Tayor is a judge. There are other reality, he kept a firm grip on any proceedings that came before him. p. 220 characters who have authority with the law. Heck Tate Makes the plan to save Heck Tate comes up with the plan to save Boo from the torture of social notoriety. Heck Tate Has authority regarding the law He has authority over Atticus. Boo Radley Saves others Boo saves Jem and Scout. To my way of thinkin, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who s done you and this town a great service an draggin him with his shy ways into the limelight, to me, that s a sin. (p. 369-70) It ain t your decision, Mr. Finch, it s all mine. It s my decision and my responsibility. For once, if you don t see it my way, there s not much you can do about it. 275 THE PROBLEM WITH THIS ANSWERS IS THAT IT IS THE CHRIST S JOB TO DO THE SAVING, NOT THE GOD-HEAD S. THIS IS EVIDENCE THAT BOO RADLEY IS A CHRIST-FIGURE.
Holy Spirit-figure *Is sent by the Christ-figure *Comforts/befriends/guides in the absence of the Christ and/or Father *reveals TRUTH *associated with spirit rather than flesh * communicates with other non-verbally *offers the GIFT of salvation * Continues Christ s saving work in the absence of the Christ Character Examples of how he/she represents this Person (HS) Supporting Quotes w/pg. # s Tom Reveals truth Tom, you re sworn to tell the whole truth. Will you tell it? pp. 259 Robinson Tom reveals the truth about what happened the night of the crime Tom, did you rape Mayella Ewell? I did not, suh. p. 260 Boo Radley Comforts p. 96 waiting for student to cull out unnecessary portions of quote Boo comforts Scout with a blanket the night of the fire. Jem Continues Christ s saving work in the absence of the Christ He sacrifices his life to save Scout. Tom Comforts in the absence of the FATHER He works for Mayella for free because no one else will help her. Jem Comforts in the absence of the Christ Is sent by the Christ Atticus sends Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose (comfort/saving) and defends Scout against her insults (comforts/defends/advocates); this is a sacrifice, because he really is scared of her Atticus Offers the gift of salvation Atticus offers the Havefords the opportunity to live, but they refuse it and receive the death penalty. So you brought that dirty little sister of yours, did you? was her greeting. Jem said quietly, My sister ain t dirty and I ain t scared of you, although I noticed his knees shaking. (p. 102) THE PROBLEM WITH THIS ANSWER IS THAT THE CHRIST ALSO OFFERS THIS GIFT; IN FACT, THE HOLY SPIRIT OFFERS IT ONLY THROUGH CHRIST S SACRIFICE AND OFFERS IT IN THE ABSENCE OF THE CHRIST FIGURE. SINCE ATTICUS IS THE CHRIST FIGURE WHO IS ADVOCATING FOR THEIR LIVES, HE CAN T BE OFFERING IT IN THE ABSENCE OF THE CHRIST FIGURE. THIS EXAMPLE IS EVIDENCE THAT ATTICUS IS THE CHRIST FIGURE. TOPIC SENTENCE for Trinity paragraph: Harper Lee uses not only a Christ-figure, but invokes the entire Trinity in order to emphasize the necessity of interconnectedness in saving the town from prejudice.