To Kill a Mockingbird: Characterization of Atticus

To Kill a Mockingbird: Characterization of Atticus
Characterization Writers create characters through the following:
1. Direct Description: Details of a character's physical appearance and personality told
through narration.
2. Character's Actions: What a character does and how he/she reacts in situations.
3. Character's Words: What a character says, either expressing their thoughts on issues
or how they deal with others.
4. Other Character's Words: What other characters say about him/her helps the reader
understand how others perceive him/her.
Atticus as a Character: Which type of characterization is each quote? How do the
following quotes create Atticus? What type of a person is he? Jot down notes about the
context for each quote and what it reveals about Atticus: how does the quote build his
character?
1. ". . . if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all
kinds of folks. 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." (30)
‐Atticus
2. "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn't
represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do
something again." (75) Atticus
3. "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason
for us not to try to win..." (76) Atticus
4. "This time we aren't fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But
remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends and this is
still our home." (76) Atticus

5. "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." (87) Atticus
6. "But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until
many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said." (89)
Narration
7. "Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty." (89) Narration
8. "He did not do the things our schoolmates' fathers did: he never went hunting, he
did not play poker or fish or drink or smoke. He sat in the living room and read."
(89) Narration
9. "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill
a mockingbird." (90) Atticus
10. "You're lucky, you know. You and Jem have the benefit of your father's age. If
your father was thirty you'd find life quite different." (90) Miss Maudie
11. "Marksmanship's a gift of God, a talent...1 think maybe he put his gun down
when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living
things. I guess he decided he wouldn't shoot till he had to, and he had to today."
(98) Miss Maudie
12. "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents." (98) Miss Maudie
13. "Atticus is a gentleman, just like me." (99) Jem
Write a statement summing up Atticus' character: what kind of a person is he?