Mrs Dubose a sick old lady who lived in Maycomb, was ‘hated’ by Jem and Scout because ‘she was vicious’ to them by always screaming and shouting abuse as they would walk past her house. She is an interesting figure of authority because she has a lot of influence over the children by being so cruel to them, even though Mrs Dubose is very ill. Atticus is very different to her by having the qualities of being very matter of fact and listening to his children rather then being intolerant.
Scouts teacher Miss Caroline had authority over the children but did not communicate with Scout well. Because she was able to read Miss Caroline didn’t know what to do so told Scout to tell her father ‘to not teach’ anymore. This was a strange reaction to Scout because Miss Caroline wanted her to stop learning from outside school, although reading came naturally to her. There was no control over the class when Walter Cunningham a pupil from a poor family had no lunch and refused to take any money from the teacher because ‘they never borrowed anything they couldn’t pay back’ but Miss Caroline didn’t understand because she came from North Alabama and was unfamiliar with Maycomb society. Scout’s simple explanation about Walter Cunningham only served to irritate the teacher all the more because she is an outsider. Her use of authority failed towards the children without her understanding why it didn’t work, as she didn’t realise that Maycomb was so different to her hometown.
In ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Atticus is an important authority figure to his children because he tries to set them an example by standing up for what he believes is right by defending Tom Robinson. At first his children think he is ‘feeble’ and isn’t capable of doing ‘anything’ but sit in the living room and read. This is to the contrary as Jem and Scout soon discover that their father is a strong and brave man full of wisdom. ‘One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them’. Teaching his children that they need to be cautious and careful in relation to how they treat and address other people. Atticus' sums up his wise parenting, in Chapter 30 by saying, ‘Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I've tried to live so I can look squarely back at him,’ ultimately wins their respect.
Any white person had more rights and authority over black citizens. The majority of Maycomb turned against Atticus when they discovered he was defending a black man Tom Robinson accused of raping a white woman. There is a great deal of ignorance portrayed in the law and how justice fails to work for Tom. Everyone knew that he was innocent but nobody was brave enough to admit the truth apart from Tom’s lawyer Atticus Finch. This is shown when it is proved that ‘Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely’ with someone who used their left hand although Tom was unable to use this hand because it was damaged.
Boo Radley is also seen as an outsider and towards the end of the novel kills Bob Ewell in order to save Scout’s life. Heck Tate a reasonable man, decides to spare Boo the horror of publicity by saying that Bob Ewell fell on his knife which invokes the title of the book as Scout says that exposing Boo to the public eye would be ‘sort of like shootin' a mockingbird’. As for Boo the authority of the law would have treated him the same as they did Tom by being one sided and without reason by not taking anything they would say into account because they are alienated.
Each authority figure was portrayed to have influence over the children throughout the novel. Atticus, the main authority figure has the greatest effect on their lives. He did this by showing them what is right and teaching valuable lessons by using his intelligence. I think that there are good and bad authority figures portrayed. Atticus and Mrs Dubose are interesting characters because they show authority in different ways. In Maycomb I think that the authority in the law is unjust to those who are different like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Harper Lee shows authority figures in a variety of situations so Scout and Jem learn wrong from right.
