In Harper Lee's To Kill a
Mockingbird, Atticus takes the case of defending Tom Robinson even though he
is aware that he will probably lose the case. He believes that justice is meant for all
people, not just whites.
'Atticus, are we going to win
it?'
'No,honey.'
'They
why—'
'Simply because we were licked a hundred years before
we started is no reason for us not to try to win,' Atticus
said.
By agreeing to serve as
Tom's attorney, Atticus not only extends to Tom his rights guaranteed by law, but he
also takes a stand in the community for white and blacks to see. Atticus is a man of
impeccable character, who is ruled by his moral compass: that part of him that lets him
know what is right and what is wrong.
Atticus is also a man
who is not judgmental; he believes, too, that it is important to understand how others
feel. This is why he advises his children to walk in another person's skin to better
know that person. Atticus and his family take a good deal of ridicule, even from their
own family members, but Atticus acts based upon what he knows to be
correct.
And even though he loses Tom's trial, every member
of the black community know Atticus as a man of honor; they know he has proven Tom
innocent; and, they know that Atticus lost only because of the racism they all have been
facing for hundreds of years.
When Atticus leaves the
courtroom, the black community members in the balcony stand out of respect to
acknowledge all of this: Atticus treated Tom as a client, not as a black man. Atticus
did his very best and did not lose the argument: he simply could not turn aside
prejudicial beliefs still deeply ingrained within the society of Maycomb. Rev. Sykes and
the others not only stand out of respect and thanks, but they send food to the Finch
household to say thank you. And as is the character of Atticus Finch, he is humbled and
touched by their kind regard.
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