When children grow up their parents have a great influence on them. Sometimes it’s a good influence and sometimes it is bad. Parents are supposed to teach their children morals and how to be proper in the way they act. Atticus Finch from the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a great influence on his children, showing many good qualities for parents to have. Atticus Finch is the ideal father because he never lies to his children, even when the truth is difficult, doesn’t push his children to be who they aren’t, and follows his own advice that he offers his children when it comes to fighting.
The first reason that Atticus Finch is the ideal father is he never lies to his children, even when the truth is difficult. When Scout asks her Uncle Jack what a whorelady is, he tells her a lie. Atticus reprimands him for lying, saying, ¨ ‘Jack! When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ‘em’¨. Atticus always answers Scout’s questions truthfully, even when it is a difficult question. When Scout asked her father what rape is, Atticus replies, ¨rape was carnal knowledge of a female and without consent¨ . Atticus doesn’t lie to his children because he wants them to have trust in him. He also wants them to feel safe coming to him.
The second reason Atticus is the ideal father is he doesn’t push his children to be who they aren’t. Despite Atticus not pushing his children, his sister, Aunt Alexandra, pushes Scout to be more lady-like. She tells Scout, ¨... [she] should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam¨. Aunty wants Scout to wear dresses, not do anything that requires pants, play with tea sets, and wear pearl necklaces. When Scout asks Atticus about her behavior, he says that she is just fine the way she is and she shouldn’t worry about it. Atticus tells her, ¨...there were already enough sunbeams in the family and to go on about my business, he didn’t mind me much the way I was,¨ (Lee 87). He wants Scout to be comfortable with who she is.
A third reason that Atticus is the model parent is he follows his own advice that he offers his children when it comes to fighting. Atticus tells Scout that she has to stop fighting when people talk about him. He also says to keep her head up and her fists down and fight with words. Atticus follows his own advice when Bob Ewell spits in his face. Miss Stephanie tells Jem and Scout that, ¨Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out his handkerchief and wiped his face and stood there and let Mr Ewell call him names wild horses could not bring her to repeat. Mr Ewell was a veteran of an obscure war; that plus Atticus’s peaceful reaction probably prompted him to inquire, ¨Too proud to fight, you n------lovin’ bastard?¨ … Atticus said, ¨No, too old,¨ put his hands in his pockets and strolled on¨. He keeps his fists down and his head high. Atticus proves he’s not like other parents who are occasionally hypocrites and not always positive role models.
All in all, parents can affect their kids greatly. The lessons they teach will turn their kids into the adults that they are going to be. They may teach these lessons to their children and these good lessons may get passed down through the family and affect many people. This is how families in which every generation is similar are formed. Parents greatly affect their kids and help shape them into the adults that they’re going to be.
