How Atticus Was Differant From Other Fathers

? Essay, Research Paper

Atticus lived as more than a father, he was also a mother and a friend. His children

respected him as a parent, but trusted him as a companion. Atticus was forced to take the

role of mother and father when his wife passed away. He allowed himself to became a

friend in some situations. Scouts teacher informed her that she was not to have reading

lessons at home with her father, this angered Scout, and pushed her into disliking school.

She came to the decision that she would not go, but Atticus would not hear of this he

allowed Scout to still have her reading lesson with him so long as she stay in school. As a

man of morals, he expected Jem and Scout to behave, but he accepted the fact of their

misbehavior. .When Scout sat down to lunch with Walter Cunningham at the table she

only spoke to him in a rude manner. Atticus did not allow this he had Scout brought aside

and spoken to. Walter?s situation was explain to her, so that she understood his actions.

Atticus had been a father since the day Jem was born. Being a father is a full time

job, that lasts your life. As you could imagine, Atticus may have wanted a break, so he

simply became a friend. As a companion, his children trusted him and were able to

communicate on the same level. While waiting at the jail with Tom Robinson one dark

starry night a mob of towns men confronted him, Jem and Scout , knew that their father

was in trouble, and came to his aid. Scout was able to turn the spot light off of her father

and ?safe him?.

As a father and companion Atticus understood his children?s need of expression.

He was aware that a person?s emotion?s are capable to build up. In some situation?s Jem

and Scout were able to state their feelings. When Scout was upset that school had not

been what she thought, Atticus allowed her to express her feelings toward school. Jem

had different ways of expression that sometimes upset people, but he still did. Mrs.

Dubose was disliked by Jem, and one day she pushed him to the point where he ruined

her flowers. Both children both able to express themselves, but it was not always positive

expression.

Atticus was not just a parent, or a friend, he was also a person. As a person he

lived his life to the fullest and treated his children as equals. Atticus was different from

other fathers, even parents, because he treated his children as people, not kids.