Why Atticus Was a Bad Father

Due to the ways that Atticus Finch treats his children such as not punishing them where he was supposed to have created many qualities and behaviours that his children has that caused them to disrespect others. There were many events in this novel that happened because of the lack of respect Jem and Scout has towards others.

Fathers are the ones that support their children, discipline them during appropriate times, and defend them when others treat their children badly. Atticus, as a father, was supposed to teach their children to treat others respectively. If one treats others with respect, they will return the favour by treating them back with respect. If Jem and Scout respected other people they will most likely be respected in return, but they didn’t and that created many unwanted problems throughout the novel.

There are many examples in the story that showed the lack of respect Jem and Scout show to others. The most important one is the lack of respect to others the children has towards older people. Scout wore overalls and acted tomboyish which showed disrespect for other women and was unacceptable back in the 1930s. Also, during the many occasions Jem and Scout passed by Mrs. Dubose’s house, they greeted her with a simple “Hey Mrs. Dubose!” In those times, children were expected to treat elders with respect and the proper way to greet a poor old lady like Mrs. Dubose is to say “Good morning Mrs. Dubose,” but due to the way Atticus disciplines his children, Jem and Scout treated Mrs. Dubose with pure disrespect. If a responsible parent learns about their children being disrespectful when greeting others, then they will of course discipline them by explaining them the proper way to greet elders, but Atticus did not do one single thing about it, instead Jem and Scout carried on their “Heys!” therefore causing them to hear the shrill screams of Mrs. Dubose. In addition, after the occasion when Mrs. Dubose yelled at the children about Atticus Finch being an...