Gentleman as Hero: Atticus Finch and the Lonely Path

Abstract

Any reviewer of Tom Shaffer's biography and the list of his more than 250 articles, essays and books, is reminded of the way in which Tom distinguishes a hero from an everyday lawyer. His distinction perhaps fits Tom, but it more surely describes a major character of lawyer fiction with whose name Tom Shaffer's will be forever linked—the person of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.The story of a hero, Tom says, has a compelling quality that we are struck by—“we like [heros] and, more than liking them, we find in them something that keeps us from leaving them alone.” Second, he claims, a hero has the virtue of prodigiousness: “The hero goes beyond himself. There is something extraordinary about his effort. There is more in what he does than we can see ourselves doing ….” Third, he notes the numinous: “The hero is in touch with something special, something awesome and fascinating, something that attracts us and repels us at the same time.” Fourth, a hero is useful—“[he]… becomes a hero because his story fits the moral needs of the times.” Finally, a hero “is a person of bravery and insight.” “He understands what is going on … and he acts in reference to what is going on in a relatively clear-sighted, skillful way.”