Atticus Finch represents the rational man in

a world of highly emotional people. Atticus

is a stable and mature figure who is able to

cope with the



unreasonable and highly emotional element of

the town. He can handle the prejudiced white

masses and still deal justly with the

underprivileged Negro population. He is one

of the few people of the town who understands

the individual worth of a person regardless

of the color of skin. He is able to defend

Tom Robinson solely on the basis of justice

and does not allow the color of Tom's skin to

prejudice him against Tom's case.



It is necessary to have a man with a high and

ideal view of justice defending Tom Robinson

because even Atticus knows that the case is

hopelessly lost before he begins. He is wise

enough to know that the prejud



ices of the southern town will never allow

justice to be done, but at the same time, he

is determined that the truth be told so that

those who convict tom will be aware that they

are convicting an innocent man. Accordingly,

in the final analysis of the story, Atticus

represents the "justice" in the community of

Maycomb.



Atticus is also the spokesman of the moral

philosophy of the novel. He always teaches

his children that,"they must learn to be

compassionate and understanding of the

problems and conditions of life faced by othe



r people,"He frequently advises Scout that

she must be able to step into the shoes of

others such as Ewells, Boo Radley, and the

Cunninghams. Consequently, he will not allow

the children to torment Boo Radley and wants

Scout to try to see things from Boo's point

of view.



Atticus' relationship with his children is

very important in understanding his

character. He has an outstanding

agreement,"with his children because he

treats them as mature adults and tries to

explain to them how to meet the problems that

are presented to them in an adult world. All

of Atticus' relatives feel that he is

bringing up the children incorrectly, and

they challenge his method of handling the

children,"Uncle Jack punishes Scout without

listening to her side of the story, whereas

Atticus always gives her the opportunity to

explain her point of view."Thus, Atticus is

the voice of the reason and justice whether

he is dealing with the grim ingrained

prejudices of a southern community of whether

he is "trying to handle a minor problem of

discipline with his own children.