My name is Alison ___________, and today, I'm going to talk about the literary classic, "To Kill A Mockingbird," by Harper Lee.
The main character in the book, Atticus Finch, plays the role of father, teacher and friend to his young children, Scout and Jem. Atticus is a wise man, committed to justice and equality, with a unique, yet effective parenting style. He catches every opportunity in daily life to pass his values to Jem and Scout. He even encourages them to call him Atticus so that they can interact on terms as equal as possible. Throughout Jem and Scout's childhood, Atticus works to develop their respective consciences. After Scout meets Boo Radley, Scout understands the sentence: You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them, which was once said by Atticus. Another example is when Atticus takes Tom Robinson's case, he explains the reason to Scout "If I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one's mine, I guess."" So he lives up to his own moral standards despite the harsh consequences he knows he will face. Atticus is also a kind and loving father, reading to his children and offering them comfort when they need it, he patiently recognizes that they are children and they will make childish mistakes and assumptions. And yet, he is capable of teaching them harsh lessons, as when he knows Jem and Scout are in the court, he tells them, "You've heard it all, so you might as well hear the rest, you all can come back when you've eaten your supper."" Racism will lead to unfair trial, Atticus sees the consequence better than anybody, but he intends to let Jem and Scout to face the reality. When he hears Tom is dead, Atticus allows Jem to come with him and tell Helen Robinson about Tom's death.
