Atticus hid his skills in marksmanship from Jem and Scout, because he didn’t want to influence his son and daughter into thinking that it was alright to kill living creatures for the fun of it. When Miss.Maudie is teaching Jem and Scout about their father’s history in shooting, she says “...he’s civilized in his heart...I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things...he wouldn’t shoot unless he had to”(Lee 130). Not only did Atticus not tell his children that he was an excellent marksman, he didn’t want to teach Jem and Scout how to shoot when they got air rifles for Christmas and instead asked uncle Jack to teach them. One day, when Jem wanted to go outside to shoot with his new air rifle, Atticus told him, "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds"(Lee 119). Atticus tries very hard to erase his past of shooting, to the point that even uncle Jack, his own brother, says that Atticus isn't fond of guns. Atticus could potentially learn to embrace his talent, even if he isn't very proud of it, marksmanship is not a skill that everybody has.
I agree, I think that his marksmanship is something that he is not necessarily proud of. I think that as Atticus grew up he realized the power, and responsibility of a gun. How it can take a life in a moment just like Tim Johnson. When Atticus says "I haven't shot a gun in 30 years-" I think he didn't want to shoot, and I think he was afraid. Atticus tries to hide his children from the dangerous things in the world. When Atticus says "I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds". I think he means that everyone wants a little risk, and I think that Jem and scout remind his of himself when he was a kid. Atticus knows that Jem and Scout are growing up, and giving them air rifles is a way to say, "I trust you with the responsibility of this power".
ReplyDeleteAtticus is not proud of being a good shooter I think that after seeing how cruel the world can be a gun most definitely will not make the world or the area he's living in better. Atticus also knows that a gun ins't just something you can play around with because they are dangerous and if you carelessly handle a fire arm there will be severe harm like you might accidentally take someone's life. For example when he says, " i'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard but I know you'll go after birds. Atticus knows that they are kids and kids are always curious because obviously you get a different reaction when you shoot a bird and a tin can. So though Atticus knows that they might kill birds to see what happens he hopes that they will be responsible because fire arms are not a toy.
ReplyDeleteAtticus is a different person now then when he was good marksmanship. I think he also doesn't want Scout and Jem to get the wrong picture about marksmanship. He doesn't want them thinking that "Courage is a man with a gun in his hand". "[Atticus] wanted [Scout and Jem] to see something about [Mrs. Dubose]- [he] wanted [them] to see what real courage is" (149). As much as hunting no longer aligns with his morals he also wants to set a good example for the people around him. At the same time (piggybacking onto Eric's thought), I agree that he wants to respect Scout and Jem's youthfulness.
ReplyDeleteI agree Atticus isn’t proud of his ability to shoot, simply because he is too civilized in his heart to shoot innocent creatures “He’s civilized in his heart...he wouldn’t shoot unless he had to” (Lee 130). Atticus doesn’t want his children to think that it’s cool and brave to hold a gun so, he withholds that he is a great marksman because he knows that they both look up to him. I think that an important part of this is that Atticus wants to shape his kids into the man he is trying to be.
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