To me, a family can have many different meanings. Most people think of families as two married people who love each other so much that they decide to get married, and have at least one child. Unfortunately, families are often broken up. The main reason for a break up in a family is when the man and women of the relationship decide to go their separate ways, and to get a divorce. Another reason for the separation in a family is when a parent or a child dies, because the family will never be the same without one of their loved ones. Some adults are not cut out to have a family, but rush into a marriage and have children before they are ready to be a responsible parent, therefor the parent might become an abusive parent or may never be home socialize with his/her children. In To Kill a Mockingbird, we are shown how several differently families live their lives, and we get some good examples of how some parents treat their children.
The Finch family, is a great example of a family that was split because of death and is still happy. When Jem and Scout were young, their mother died from a sudden heart attack, at the time she died, they were devastated, but over time they got over it, and learned to love their father, and make the best out of the life that they were given. Atticus is a great father in my opinion. Atticus always comes home at night after work, to be with his children. He never comes home drunk, or obnoxious. He makes sure that he is always polite to people around him, because he wants to teach Scout and Jem to be sweet and polite to their elders. Scout and Jem, think their father is boring, because when they ask him to do something fun with them he always says that he is to frail and old. What they don't realize is that out of all the families in Maycomb County, theirs is the best, most complete family. As a result, they are all probably the happiest people in town.
