Atticus Finch is the most important character in To Kill a Mockingbird barring Scout, the narrator. Atticus is father to Scout and Jem, and is an attorney in Maycomb, Alabama. In this capacity, he takes on the case of his life when he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Atticus is compassionate, patient, and above all empathetic, traits that he tries to instill in his children under circumstances that place his family under great strain. He is a widower, so he is ultimately responsible--with the considerable help of their housekeeper Calpurnia--for raising the children, and their relationship with him (he is a bit old for a father of such young children, and they view him as a bit boring at the beginning of the book) is crucial to the plot of the book. Overall, Atticus is one of the most beloved characters in American literature.
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