If you haven't read the Harper Lee classic To Kill a Mockingbird, you probably have seen the award winning film adaptation of the book. But still, if you aren't familiar with either, you surely have heard of or seen references to the most famous man of American ethics, Atticus Finch, especially the courtroom scene. It is there in his acclaimed summation of the case against a Negro man, Tom Robinson, falsely accused of raping a white woman, that Atticus assembles together the truths that distill into the words we all know so well:
"Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal...we know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe...But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal--there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court...our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.
I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty."
Throughout the story of Atticus Finch, his family and friends, and the ill-fated case of Tom Robinson he was destined to take, this man exhibits the quality of sangfroid that makes us long to have a husband, father, uncle, son, or friend just like him.
The word sangfroid originates literally from the French sang--blood, froid--cold, and was first used to mean coolness of mind, calm, having composure between 1740 and 1750. The anglicized version is pronounced sahn frwa.
So how does a person develop sangfroid? Is it a personality trait one is born with? Can the brain reprogram itself to have a consistent temperament of calm coolness of mind? Does experience contribute and does a person need to be open-minded, observant, and perhaps even ethical to remain calm? Or maybe the quality of sangfroid is only the tip of the iceberg for a person of the highest integrity.This blog post will shed a few rays of light on those questions by looking specifically at my favorite character of all time, Atticus Finch--the epitome of father, friend, lawyer, and champion of moral courage.
People who display sangfroid seem to have many of the same qualities. Atticus manifests all of these.
1. They operate with the quiet spirit of wisdom and experience.
Scout tells her father that most of the townspeople think they're right and Atticus is wrong for defending Tom Robinson. His response: "They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
2. They are self-assured but humble.
Jem and Scout think their father is old and can't do anything special. Their neighbor Miss Maudie sets them straight.
"Well, did you know he's the best checker player in this town?"
"Good Lord, Miss Maudie. Jem and me beat him all the time."
"It's about time you learned it's because he lets you."
Later in Chapter 10, Atticus is called upon to shoot a mad dog stricken with rabies. Jem is astounded that his father is able to hit him. Maudie says,
"Forgot to tell you the other day that besides playing the Jew's Harp, Atticus Finch was the deadest shot in Maycomb County in his time."
In Chapter 11 Atticus teaches Jem an important lesson but the reader also sees another glimpse into Atticus's principled life.
"--I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose...died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I knew." (Mrs. Dubose freed herself from her morphine addition before she died.)
3. Clinging to what is right, they are hopeful even in what seems to be a hopeless situation.
Inside the courtroom, all are waiting for the jury to return with a verdict regarding Tom Robinson's innocence. When the judge finishes polling the jury, who have all voted guilty, Atticus puts his hand on Tom's shoulder and whispers. Imprisoned for a crime he does not commit, Tom tries to escape and is shot seventeen times as he runs. Atticus shares the news with his sister. "Atticus leaned against the refrigerator, pushed up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. 'We had such a good chance,' he said. 'I guess Tom was tired of white men's chances and preferred to take his own.'"
4. They are responsible for outcomes and respond fairly and courageously.
There is no better example of this than when Scout must explain to her Uncle Jack how to be a good parent when Jack unfairly punishes her for cursing. "Well, in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it--you just lit right into me. When Jem an' I fuss Atticus doesn't ever just listen to Jem's side of it, he hears mine too..."
When Jem gets angry and destroys his neighbor Mrs. Dubose's flowers, Atticus insists that he take responsibility for it. Jem fights back. "She said you lawed for niggers and trash." Atticus responds that doing that to a sick old lady is still inexcusable. Scout doesn't understand and again Atticus must explain. "...sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down--well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you'll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn't let you down. This case, Tom Robinson's case, is something that goes to the essence of a man's conscience--Scout, I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man."
5. They are kind and grateful. They are patient and tolerant, and they choose words wisely.
When Scout begins school, she already knows how to read, but the teacher tells Scout her father has done it all wrong and needs to stop reading at home. She is upset and doesn't want to go back to school, but Atticus shares this now famous advice: "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...If you'll concede the necessity of going to school, we'll go on reading every night just as we always have. Is it a bargain?"
After the trial has concluded, Atticus goes home to find the Negro community has loaded his table with food, even as the Depression is in full swing, as a gesture of appreciation for doing his best to defend Tom. "Atticus's eyes filled with tears. He did not speak for a moment. 'Tell them I'm very grateful,' he said. 'Tell them--tell them they must never do this again. Times are too hard...."
At the end of the story and the sheriff has shared his decision about Boo Radley with Atticus, he walks over to his daughter who has been listening to them. "'Scout, Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?'
'Yes sir, I understand. Mr. Tate was right.'
'What do you mean?'
'Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?'
Atticus put his face in my hair and rubbed it. When he got up and walked across the porch into the shadows, his youthful step had returned. Before he went inside the house, he stopped in front of Boo Radley. 'Thank you for my children, Arthur.'"
Sangfroid may be just a word we use to describe someone who has mastered a control over the emotions, but the implied importance of the word goes deeper into the inner workings of a truly decent human being. Although Harper Lee's beloved character Atticus Finch is fictional, we would be wise to study him as an exemplar of virtue and moral courage. As we watch the George Floyd/Black Lives Matter movement, with millions of people marching, that is taking place in the midst of an international pandemic in which more than a hundred thousand Americans alone have died, we need leadership of the highest order. Let it begin at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment