Sometimes tension in the self is exactly what we need to be good. This should be inspiring to lawyers, and to the legal ethicists who have long worried that lawyersвЂ™ roles will cause schisms in their identities.

They can cross social boundaries, subvert their own social roles, and radically criticize their community precisely because their identities are fragmented or in flux. The identities of characters like Calpurnia, Maudie, and Scout others are conflicted or divided, and these tensions allow them to be admirable in ways that Atticus is not. Far from presenting Atticus as the sole paradigm of ethical goodness, it shows other characters who are admirable because they are not like Atticus at all. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' shows that it is sometimes better to have tension in our identities. For example, the way that Atticus organizes his identities around his commitment to the justice system prevents him from noticing his only chance to save Tom RobinsonвЂ™s life. In fact, integrating oneвЂ™s identities can sometimes make it harder to act virtuously. This is a good thing for him, but it isnвЂ™t morally admirable. On the other hand, he is also praised for being вЂњthe same in his house as he is on the public streets.вЂќ But we shouldnвЂ™t praise him for this.ДЄtticus has achieved a kind of harmony between his identity as a lawyer and other identities like parent, neighbor, citizen, and moral person.

On one hand, he is rightly admired for standing up for the things he values. Atticus Finch has two kinds of integrity, but only one of them is genuinely admirable.

Features of southern gothic literature