10Allanah La Budde 12DMs Veck-Ranges
"Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit `em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mocking bird," My father, Atticus Finch, said these words to me and my brother, Jeremy, when we got our first guns. My name is Jean-Louise Finch known as Scout to some of you. Atticus was the kind of person who always said what he thought, never anyone else's opinion.
We're all here today to remember Atticus, how he was kind and honest to everyone he met, his feelings about equality and against racism, and how he taught me and Jem to 'walk a mile in someone else's skin, before you judge them,' Atticus was the best role model that I could ask for and I don't think I would change it for anything.
When I was in my third year of school Jem wrecked Ms. Dubose's flowers, and Atticus made him go and read to her for a week so she could get off of her of her addiction to painkillers, but we didn't know that at the time, even though she called him names such as 'nigger-lover' she also yelled at Jem, that he was a 'disgrace', and myself, the fact that I was a 'tom-boy', quite a lot. However Atticus just tipped his hat and complemented her and her flowers as he kept on walking. Before the week was over Ms. Dubose had died with a light heart and she was off her addiction due to the fact that Atticus continued to send Jem to read as a distraction.
In the same year Atticus had taken on most likely the hardest court case of his career. He chose to defend the black man known as Tom Robinson, despite what the town and my Aunt Alexandra had to say on the matter. This never troubled Atticus he just kept going about his business like every other day. During the whole ordeal Atticus was braver then anyone I've ever seen before. The biggest example of this was when a lynch mob tried to get at Tom when he was asleep in his jail cell. Atticus went to stop them with only a lamp and a newspaper so that he could sit out there while talking to Mr. Cunningham and his family. When the day of the trial arrived he was ever so polite to Ms. Mayella not that she noticed, heck I'll bet she never had any friends. I'd never seen Mr. Ewell as livid as he did when Atticus managed to poke those holes through his story. Even though poor Tom was charged with raping Mayella, Atticus did the best job any lawyer could have down and he still had the respect of the whole black community. I remember as he was leaving Reverend Skyes said to me "Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing," and the whole of the black community stood up as a salute to Atticus.
When ever I got in to trouble at school for judging the other kids, my father would say that "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." I never understood this until I met Arthur Radley. Jem, Dill and I had spent many years making assumptions about him, how he was a demon or a ghost and how he'd come get the evil little children that didn't do as they were told. In truth though, Boo was most likely the sweetest guy I've ever met but he had been misjudged by all the people of Maycomb but it didn't bother him.
With these things in mind I'd like to bring this speech to an end. I'd like you all to remember that Atticus would not want us to mourn and cry over his death, but to celebrate life and think of only happy memories about him. I thank-you all for being here today and would now like to ask Jeremy to come up here and say a few words about dad.
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