Atticus, a respected lawyer in the town is at the central core of this novel. He has a lot of moral authority in the small town and is a prime example of someone who is at the top of the hierarchy. Jem and Scout, also knows as Jean Louise, are his young children, with Scout being the narrator of this novel. She describes the events of her childhood in a retrospective style and it shows how she begins to understand, but not accept the society in which she lived over the duration of the story. Atticus is a caring and loving father and the only citizen of Maycomb who will defend a black person and view them as equal. He also pays respect to other members of the community and considers everyone as equal, which is why he is so respected himself. “They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions”. He is also shown to teach respect to people. He tells his children: "You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” He is educating Jem and Scout that they should respect everyone, as nobody understands reasons for a persons actions or words except themselves. If they respect people, people will respect them.
The narrative structure in this novel provides a good support for the plot as it conveys the general parallels and contrasts of the characters, as well as presenting the novel in a particular point of view of a child. The themes in the novel - prejudice and growing-up are developed by the narrative structure, given in the innocent view of a child. The book concentrates on everyday situations in its time where racism and prejudice was the norm. This subsequently gives an insight of how bad racism actually was back in the 1930’s. Now it is being read in the present day, where most people take an entirely different view to racism and prejudice and it enforces how bad racism was even more so.
Atticus not only teaches his children that racism is wrong, but alters their view on a person called Boo Radley, also known as Arthur, who was an out-of-control young man who had been ostracised by the community by gossip and word of mouth. They considered him dangerous and crazy as he was arrested for assault. He was detained for a while and then released. “They wanted to send him to an asylum, but his daddy said no Radley was going to any asylum. So they locked him up in the basement of the courthouse till he nearly died of the damp, and his daddy brought him back home.” Boo then became a recluse in his house and nobody came near him as he was subjected to gossip. Jem says to Dill in the novel, “Boo only comes out at night when you're asleep and it's pitch-dark. When you wake up at night, you can hear him. Once I heard him scratchin' on our screen door, but he was gone by the time Atticus got there.” Scout then realises he is good-hearted deep down when he places a blanket around her when she was cold. He also risked himself to saved her and Jem from Bob Ewell.
Scout displays the education he is taught by Atticus when Aunt Alexandra forbids Scout to play with her friend Walter Cunningham, a poor boy who goes to school with Scout. Aunt Alexandra sees Walter and his family inferior to the Finch family due to their lack of money and says, " they're good folks. But they're not our kind of folks." Scout on the other hand doesn't care about how much money Walter and his family have but about his good friendship qualities. Scout learns to not let irrelevant things such as money affect her judgment of people.
Atticus also managed to change the racist society of Maycomb by defending Tom Robinson in his trial, a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. By defending Tom in a hopeless trial, Atticus, is standing up for an ethnic group in the society he lived in and this would hopefully have an impact on the rest of the town as he was a very influential member of it. Atticus says to Scout " If I didn't take this case then I wouldn't be able to hold my head up, I wouldn't be about to tell anyone what to do, not even you and Jem." the reader can understand that Tom's case is very important to Atticus and he knows that it will be a very important factor in shaping the community in which he lives and that there will be a change for the better from the result of the trial. If he did not accept the defence of Tom in the trial then no one else in Maycomb would be the first to stand up and help Tom and the rest of the black community. Atticus’ good-will is enhanced by him being a white upper-class man himself. He fights for what is right, even though he wouldn’t benefit from black people being equal, and if anything he would benefit from the black community being inferior as he is white. This is not important to Atticus as the good, moral thing to do is far more rewarding for him. When he says, " Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told . . . and you know what the truth is”, Atticus must face a group of the townspeople and it is clear that Atticus is willing to risk his own safety and reputation to bring justice to the trial and justice to the black people, no matter who stands in the way. Atticus shows great compassion towards black people and makes sacrifices by defending Tom. He says in chapter 23, “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any colour of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”. Atticus was going to see his case through to the end, even if the result was positive or negative. Atticus’ closing statement in the trial is very powerful, he says: " You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire. He fights against the majority for justice and equality.
Atticus also treats Mrs. Dubose, Scouts teacher, in a complimentary and kind way, which also forms his “saintly” characteristic. Even though Mrs. Dubose makes malicious comments and criticisms of Atticus and his children, he still treats her in a good way. He compliments her on her appearance and helps her when she goes to sit down. Atticus sets examples to teach Jem and Scout vital values that will benefit them in life.
The way Atticus raised his children also plays a part in re-shaping his society for the better. He teaches Jem and Scout valuable lessons that help the next generation to break the cycle of discrimination. For example, when Atticus says " You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it". This teaches the children not to judge people weather they are black, white, rich, or poor, until they understand their situation. He also teaches his children not to hurt or hate anyone that has done nothing to provoke them. The reader can see the view Atticus has on unnecessary hatred and how he strongly believes in equality. Jem and Scout calling Atticus by his name and not “father” or “daddy” shows this.