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Originally Posted by Jim in CT

My God. I'm not sure you read the book. "The job" was supposed to go to the new lawyer in town but they wanted Atticus to take it because of who he was. He didn't want to be in that spot, he didn't want to expose his kids to bigotry, but knew he couldnt ask his kids to respect him if he didn't do it. He didn't just poke holes the the prosecution's case, he went WAY beyond that and spoke out against the evil historical sin of bigotry. He didn't want to have Bob Ewell spit in his face, didn't want to have to drive out to tell Toms wife that Tom was dead. He never pressured clients to pay, took payments in food if that was all they had, and he was glad to take it.

"His job"? Just doing his job? It was his job, when he heard that the racists were coming to hang Tom, it was his job to go sit on the front steps of the jail all night, to stand up without flinching to an entire mob, to tell them to go home?

You missed THE ENTIRE POINT. Do you recall the scene in the book and in the movie, when all the blacks in the courtroom stood up in respect when he was leaving the courthouse? The black reverend said to his daughter who was sitting on the ground, ":Miss jean louise? Miss Jean Louise? Stand up, your father's passing." She looked around and saw that all the blacks were standing in respect for Atticus. That's a scene that's supposed to give you goosebumps at what a selfless hero he was (often taking payments in food, often letting people take as long as they needed to pay, never hounding them for payment).

Christ almighty, stick to fishing.

You do realize many groups have opposed the book being used in schools for a variety of reasons? Racists segregationists didn’t like it, many on the right oppose the profanity and discussion of rape.