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thedrifter
06-16-07, 07:10 AM
Dads by the book: Atticus Finch sets the bar high

By Rachel Sauer

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, June 16, 2007

It's so easy to picture him on his front porch, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie loosened, confessing, "Sometimes I think I'm a total failure as a parent, but I'm all they've got."

Oh, Atticus. Every father worries. Especially when his 13-year-old son has just possibly stabbed a man. But if anyone need not doubt his parenting skills, it is you, Atticus Finch. Your next thought was this: "Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I've tried to live so I can look squarely back at him."

All a man needs to know about being a father is exemplified by Atticus Finch, the moral center of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. He is the Ideal Literary Father. In fact, he sets such an inspirational standard that we've developed the Atticus Finch Scale, against which all fathers of literature might be measured.

A 10 is Atticus himself. A 1 is, say, Ty Ty Walden from Erskine Caldwell's God's Little Acre - a "father" who spends his days digging for gold instead of farming, lusts after his daughters-in-law and even his own daughters, and turns a blind eye to his rotten sons.

How do other fathers of literature measure up?Father: Silas Marner

Father to: Eppie (in George Eliot's Silas Marner, 1861)

What a life story this guy has! After fleeing a Puritan community, losing his faith, becoming a hermit, getting robbed and having yet another cataleptic fit, he finds a 2-year-old girl asleep on his hearth one night. Her laudanum-addicted mother is outside, frozen to death, and her father doesn't want her, so Silas adopts her. And does a fabulous job raising her because he loves her so much. Even when her wealthy birth father comes back and asks her to live with him and his new wife, Eppie refuses. Silas is her father.

Atticus Finch Scale rating: 9

What would Atticus do? Pretty much everything the same, except with Southern accent and a glass of sweet tea. A scared toddler? Y'all bring that young 'un ovah heah.


Father: Bull Meecham

Father to: Ben, Mary Anne, Karen and Matthew (in Pat Conroy's The Great Santini, 1976)

OK, fine, Marines are married to the Corps. First into battle and all that, tough as leather. Got it. But Bull Meecham is a giant jerk. He just is.

Regardless of what generation he's from, and how dangerous his job as a pilot is, he can't expect to come home from missions and slap his wife around and treat his kids like they're useless/invisible/not good enough.

Poor Ben wins a basketball game for his team, and not only does Bull yell at him all the way home, but offers this fatherly wisdom: "I don't want to see you being a good sport the rest of this season." Nice lesson there, pops.

Atticus Finch Scale rating: 1

What would Atticus do? Well, for starters, he'd shove a butthead like Bull Meecham off his front porch (but only if Jem and Scout weren't looking) and tell him never to come back.

Let's hope one of those scary dudes with the rebel flag on the front grille of his truck would hear the commotion, see that Atticus was upset and finish Bull off.

Meanwhile, Atticus would tell Ben that he's an awesome basketball player.


Father: Michael Henchard

Father to: Elizabeth-Jane (in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, 1886)

Well. This one's never going to win Father of the Year. Mainly because, as a rash 21-year-old, he gets drunk one night and sells his wife and baby daughter to Newson the sailor for five guineas. Twenty-one years later, Susan and Elizabeth-Jane seek him out, after Newson allegedly dies.

Susan and Michael end up remarrying, and Michael grows fond of his daughter. But then Susan dies and Michael finds out his daughter died as a baby, and this Elizabeth-Jane is actually Newson's.

So he acts cold, Elizabeth-Jane tries to regain his love, they basically reconcile, but Michael ends up dying alone.

His drama-queen dying wish, written to his daughter? "That no man remember me." Sheesh.

Atticus Finch Scale rating: 3

What would Atticus do? Die of embarrassment at the very idea of writing a crybaby will. Oh, and he probably wouldn't get angry-drunk in some seedy tavern and sell his wife and baby to a random sailor. Just a guess.


Father: Roger Boone

Father to: Christopher (in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, 2003)

Poor, overwhelmed Roger. His teenage son is significantly autistic, so not only must he keep home and hearth together, but he must navigate the maze of life with a boy who lives entirely in his head. And he must do it solo, since his wife left when Christopher was young, proclaiming herself unable to deal with everything. Roger tells Christopher his mom died in the hospital, but Christopher finds a box of letters she sent to him.

Then there's the unfortunate incident with the neighbor's dog. But Roger really is a decent person. "I want you to know that I'm trying, I really am," he tells his son.

Atticus Finch Scale rating: 7

What would Atticus do? Well, obviously Atticus would tell his kids the truth and be kinder to animals. But c'mon, poor Roger! He tries his best. Atticus wouldn't judge him. Atticus would just lock up the pitchforks and offer Roger some pie.


Father: King Lear

Father to: Goneril, Regan and Cordelia (in William Shakespeare's King Lear, 1605)

Witness the birth of a symbol: for false pride, for all sorts of blindness, for the corrupting influence of power. But King Lear is a father, too, albeit one who's batting one-for-three in the daughter department.

Regan and Goneril make ridiculous proclamations of love to their prideful father and get a bunch of land, but kindly Cordelia refuses to stoop to their level and Lear strips her of her land. Regan and Goneril eventually turn on their father, and Lear and Cordelia end up in jail together.

He dies weeping over her body. It's just terrible.

Atticus Finch Scale rating: 4

What would Atticus do? Here's what he wouldn't do: Get thrown into jail. Talk about unseemly. And he'd make sure Scout doesn't marry a deadbeat.

It's also a pretty good bet he wouldn't try to solve his problems with a war.


Father: Son Abbott

Father to: Cecilia (in Ann Patchett's The Patron Saint of Liars, 1992)

The problem with a lot of literature is that the restless, troubled, feckless characters get to be the center of the story, while the steady, kind, maybe-not-exciting-but-certainly-good characters are often peripheral, drawn as somewhat boring. So here's to you, Son.

As the handyman at St. Elizabeth's home for unwed mothers in Habit, Ky., he befriends and eventually marries Rose Clinton, a complex, pregnant woman who ran away from her husband.

Though Cecilia isn't Son's, he raises her as his own. And as Rose grows more distant and eventually leaves, Son and Cecilia are sustained by their beautiful, loving relationship.

Atticus Finch Scale rating: 8

What would Atticus do? He wouldn't put up with as much of Rose's crap as Son does. Seriously. It's too bad about her being troubled and restless and all, but good grief.

Otherwise, though, Son and Atticus give each other a run for the money on being good and decent (which is interesting, authors of the world).

Ellie