Character of Atticus/African-American Fathers Theme

As a parent, there is no doubt that supporting a family is difficult, and this is shown through Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, and in the past years of our history. A single father raising two children, Atticus Finch is a good example of how parents should be, and has proper ways of teaching his kids. He is a man of conscience who tries his best to instill good values and morals in his children. However, many factors cause breakdowns in families, especially in black households. The crisis of African-American families is mainly due to the absence of the father. Atticus is an ideal father who teaches moral lessons that his kids benefit from, but unfortunately, black children don’t receive such principles due to the lack of responsibility of African-American fathers.

Due to different factors, the breakdown in black families in the last half-century has risen, which lead to the absence of African-American fathers. The roots of the problems lie in the legacy of slavery, declining unemployment and discrimination in education. Slavery in the United States had a great impact on African-American males. The white Americans reduced black slaves to non-human status o

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However, black fathers seem to be irresponsible men who sleep with other women and leaving them to raise a child by themselves. This shows how a father’s way of dealing with children and being able to communicate in an efficient manner is very important.

Responsible and full of integrity, Atticus is a role model who instills good virtues in his children, unlike most African-American fathers who tend to be absent in the family, producing negative effects on their children’s growth. Atticus is a lawyer and is paid reasonably. When Scout is upset for being told by to her teacher that she’s not supposed to read yet and that her father “does not know how to teach”(17), Atticus teachers her to comprise with the situation. 9% of non-white families, and such marriage problems have profound effects on the quality of life for black kids. Although his wife has died, he doesn’t seem to be interested in other women, and just strives to take care of his children to the best of his ability. He is “the same in his house as he is on the public streets”(46), showing that he is genuine, and doesn’t put on an act in front of people. Not only are poverty, broken homes, and education failure major issues, yet it is clear that crime rates among U. Not all African-American fathers are exactly like this, yet statistics show that a vast number of them are described to be this way. Dehumanization caused them to be unable to develop into strong black leadership figures. Atticus doesn’t share the racial prejudice of his town, and hopes that his children do not grow up that way. After accepting Tom Robinson’s case, Atticus tells Scout, his daughter, that he’s “simply defending a Negro”(75), and tells her “[not to] say nigger”(75). The HIV/AIDS epidemic affects both black men and women, and African-Americans were accounted for “over 50% of the AIDS cases diagnosed in the U.

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Approximate Word count = 1177
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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