Atticus is a very influential character in Mockingbird, Scout percieces her father as a very bland and uninspiring figure when placed in comparison with her peer’s parents. In chapter 10 however Scouts opinion of Atticus is revised when her father shoots dead the ‘mad dog’ that was found roaming around Maycomb. Jem remarks that the fluidness and ease that Atticus handles the rifle unsettling as prior to this Jem’s father claims to not enjoy or be interested in guns. Jem and scout also discover their father’s nickname of ‘One-shot’ in reference to his unnaturally accurate aim, this is also a source of tension in the chapter as this was previously unhead of from Jem and Scout’s perspective.
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January 17, 2015 at 10:33 am
Hello Finn,
I can’t help but think that your answer is much more to do with how the children change their view of their father. With this in mind, you show a perceptive understanding of characters.
Targets:
Choose more purposeful quotations that allow for development of language analysis. For instance, when you state that Scout views her father as ‘bland’ – give use a quotation from when she first describes Atticus. Then contrast this with a clear description of Atticus stepping out of himself during the mad dog incident.