To Kill a Mockingbird question

Sorry, but I think that's completely taken out of context. Scout and Jem are Atticus's kids.

Going by Atticus's character, he would have told this upfront to Jem and Scout. I think we are reading too much into one single phrase.

It's not an interesting point; it's just a goofy and unfounded one. Maycomb is a small town where everyone knows everyone's business; this couldn't possibly have happened without the town gossips like Miss Stephanie constantly alluding to it and rubbing Jem and Scout's noses in it. Mrs. Dubose would have certainly referred to it from her porch as the two went by day after day; she wouldn't hold back. Near the end of the book Atticus says he wants to take the matter of Bob Ewell's death to court publicly because he doesn't want Jem growing up with a cloud over his head generated by all the gossip years down the road about how his father got him out of hot water for killing Bob Ewell--if Atticus was troubled by how the town would react to something as defensible as that, imagine the cloud that would be already hanging over Jem and Scout's heads if they were the illegitimate children of Arthur Radley.

Plus, this whole kooky idea doesn't fit the chronology. Boo had already gone into seclusion long before Jem was born, and Scout the narrator gives us all we need to know about their lineage. As an adult looking back, she would have long ago figured this secret history out. It would be in the story.

I've always thought that the children's use of "Atticus" instead of "father" or "dad" might have been encouraged by Atticus himself to soften the loss of his wife, whose death must still resonate powerfully with the man. We don't get his feelings about her sudden death which has only happened a few years before the opening of the book (although the movie adds a scene to convey how he is still grieving) because he has locked them away from his children, and all we know is what Scout tells us. But perhaps the use of "dad" would have been a painful daily reminder of what he has lost. Or perhaps it's just a simple idiosyncrasy from a man who is well past the age to worry about such terms and titles being used.

But the more interesting side of this discussion is worth exploring in greater detail: even if Boo did not father them, Jem and Scout still are Arthur's children, and Scout realizes this as she stands on the porch and sees the previous three years from his point of view. Scout even calls herself and Jem, "Boo's children."

You might have a point, a quick google search confirms that other people have picked up on the same thing. And the children always refer to their dad as Atticus. Did Atticus prefer them to call him by his name rather than a title he knew to be fake?

When I got to the end of the book, I also thought that Boo was Jem and Scouts father. I am surprised to see so many people saying that this is definitely not correct.

No, I think it was just that he saved them. I also think that was just the way they talked back then.

Atticus it their father. Boo see them as "his" children because he sees them grow up through his window. Boo wants to protect them, but they are Atticus' children.

Okay here's the thing, maybe someone already made this point but here I go. Atticus is the father, he's just a different kind of father. Boo adopted jem and scout, he watched over them, loved them, and protected him and in that way he was their father. He adopted them as his children. So at the end of the story yes, jim and scouts' adopted father is watching over them.

Atticus is definitely the father, especially since Scout disusses her lineage/family heritage at length.

I think that it is a POSSIBILITY that Boo is Scout and Jem's father. In addition to the creator of this posts' evidence, I would like to add that Atticus is a bit old to be their real father as well. "Thank you for my children" also seems like an odd way for him to say thank you.

You can't have a discussion about an idiotic misunderstanding of a simple concept that is clearly not in the book. Why not discuss whether Atticus is a woman? Or Mrs. Dubose is an extraterrestrial sent to Maycomb to study earthlings? Or perhaps why Bob Ewell deserves the Maycomb County Father of the Year award?

Please, don't try to dignify ignorance and stupidity.

Brittany, I'm sorry people are so offended and angry by this idea. I had this thought after finishing the book this morning. There's also the point that Jem and Scout's hair looks nothing like Atticus's dark hair (though, of course, their mother's genetics could easily account for it). Thanks for throwing it out there!

Even if they were Boo's children (and I really don't think they were), so what?
How does it change the theme of the book?
It is obvious what Harper Lee wanted to write about because she wrote about it. If she had wanted to write a story about a recluse having to give up his children to the lawyer next door that is the story she would have written about.

I think this is a completely valid thought.

The reader is told that Atticus was very busy (with work) for his first five years in Maycomb (after he had met Scout's mother). Scout's mother could have an affair for all we know.

Considering Arthur spends a lot of time away from the public eye, he could get away with a lot.

Arthur also has a strange and unexplainable fascination with the children.

He was said to have been in the "jail" for ten years... but we don't know how true that is from the gossip and Scout's childish perspective. He could have run away for all we know.



To those who are saying that Atticus must be the father... What? Unambiguous my butt. You need at least some proof to state so.

Anyways, just trying to contribute to a discussion. Please don't attack me, but if I'm wrong, please tell me so and why. I am quite interested in this discussion. :)

I think the wording is perhaps intended to have double meaning: "Thank you for saving my children." as well as "On behalf of my children, I thank you."

It's been quite some time since I've read the book but aside from the part where the old black clergyman advises Scout to "Stand up. Your daddy's passing." and the sheriff remarking to Jem about his father (Atticus) being the best shot in the county there was also a chapter -- not referenced in the movie -- where they went to visit some relatives out of town (by the river?) and there was never any hint that anyone but Atticus was the children's father.

Atticus was a gentleman. Part of his character is to speak correctly and somewhat formally. He is thanking Arthur for saving his children. That's it. To think otherwise is not an avenue Ms. Lee has suggested or would think to. I have often wished I knew if Gregory Peck created a back story for what his wife looked like and how they met. There is a moment when he realizes Bob Ewell is a horrendous threat to all that
Atticus has left of her. Peck was simply magnificent.

Atticus is the father. He was just thanking Boo. You're reading too much into this.

I don't know, there isn't enough evidence either way. We have some proof that either could be their father but not enough solid facts to say one way or another. From a child's perspective, there isn't a lot of truth, more of their general view of the world. So again, either way, we have no solid proof that either one is their biological father.

Idk I was thinking the same thing, in chapter 31 it says, "Autumn again, and Boo's children needed him."

The word "give" can have other connotations as well. The children grow throughout the story and form more of the opinions that they will have as adults. In a way, their relationship with Boo developed throughout the story and gave them a more unprejudiced outlook on life and other people. He allowed them to look past their own preconceptions and see people beyond the outside, to see their hearts. In that sense, he "gave" Atticus more maturely developed children with hearts willing not to settle for first impressions and believe something just because that's what they've always been told. And, of course, he saved them, in addition.

Atticus is definitely their dad...if it were otherwise the author would have no choice but to let us in on it considering Atticus' straight-forward character & also Miss Stephanie's love for gossip. Everyone knew just about everything about each other!

That was a really interesting theory!
Three things support this theory:
1. The line "Thank you for my children, Arthur", -- Chapter 30
2. "Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him." -- Chapter 31
3. The fact that Scout and Jem called Atticus by his name.
Having said all this, I think the theory is still not supported enough. I would still say Atticus was their real father.

Aunt Alexandria was all about proper breeding. She surely would have known about this, if it was true, and never would have stood for it. If the author did want the reader to come to this conclusion, what purpose would it serve? The significance of the entire plot is built around what the children learn from their father. To imagine that Boo is the father would be an interesting plot twist in a mystery, but is contradictory to the main idea of this book.

That's how conspiracy theories get started!

This is To Kill a Mockingbird and not the Da Vinci Code. What might look like a hidden code is really just an accidental misinterpretation.

Desmond Dekker did not sing "my ears are alight".

Bob Marley did not sing about "a roof rack over our heads".

Boo is not Scout or Jem's Dad.

ATTICUS IS THEIR FATHER AND THATS THAT

This is a great point for GCSE or A-Level Literature, one I wish I had come across sooner. I think that Lee probably didn't intend it to come across in that way, and that's what makes it such a perfect point for literature, as it is all about taking something the author has written and giving it an entirely new meaning.
So it is a great point analytically, but it is probably not it's literal meaning. But who knows?
Edit: In the black and white film, the children both had strong southern accents whereas Atticus was English. Maybe it was the producer's way of showing us the true meaning behind those words?

I agree that Atticus is definitely their real father, but he is older than the parents of his children's classmates. It's interesting.

He was thanking Boo for saving his children. Without Boo, his children would be lost. Also, thinking Boo is their father implies that Atticus's wife/the kids mother had an affair. Atticus and their mother were married before Jem was born.

I am of the same thinking as Atanu. Atticus would have been upfront about not being their father. I think if this were the case also, more would have been made of this in the book. After all, Boo was a big focus for the children in the story.
About the kids calling Atticus by his name, I've worked with kids who would call their parent by their name. A little strange, but it does happen.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is such a great piece of literiture. I think Scout and Jem called their Father Atticus to exemplify their great love and respect for him. I also agree with Atanu, Atticus was simply thanking Boo for saving his children.

I think Atticus was the father of Jem and Scout. I think they called him Atticus because they didn't have a mother to direct them to call him Dad or Father and he didn't seem to mind. He was Atticus or Mr. Finch to everyone. I think he was just thanking Boo for saving his children. Without Boo, they both would have died.

Could anyone else play Atticus except Gregory Peck?" I think not. He kept in touch with Scout to the extent when the movie was over that she considered him another father.

Yes, it is a bit strange. I took it as I sign of respect and that the children were in a slight way, being treated as adults by allowing them to call him by his name.

Gregory Peck did a fantastic job. I could see Jimmy Stewart or William Holden doing a good job on the role as well.

Brittany wrote: "Now before you automatically say Atticus Finch let me quote the end of the book
" Atticus put his face in my hair and rubbed it. When he got up and walked across the porch into the shadows, his yo..."

He wasn't thanking Boo for giving him his children; he was thanking him for saving them. Without Boo's intervention, he wouldn't have his children, so he was thanking him for saving them, and basically "giving" their lives back to him through his selfless act of defense. Boo is not the father, and that line does not imply that, since that's the ONLY line that could be construed to suggest as such. There is no other support in the book for that theory, and that one line is certainly not concrete enough to use as stand-alone evidence. It doesn't follow Atticus' character, and it doesn't make any sense in the story.

As for the kids not calling him "dad" and calling him "Atticus", there are actually many kids who call their fathers or mothers by their first names. I was one growing up. That's just how I was raised. My father was definitely my father, but we never called him anything other than his name.

Not to be rude, but I think thats reading too much into it, it is clear that Atticus is there father threw out, but I have to admitt it is a very interesting point.

Atticus would not have lived a lie or forced children to live a lie. No. In addition, in such a small town with so many rumors swirling around Boo and everyone else, I'm sure there would have been rumors if Boo had fathered two children and Atticus had adopted them; the children would have heard the rumors just as they heard the rumors about the scissors, etc....

NO way!!! Atticus is simply thanking Boo for saving his kids from Bob. The whole first part of the book is about the Finch family line and how all of them are related, Scout and Jem's mom, how she and Atticus met and had the kids, when she died...

I don't like to be declarative, but no. He is simply saying "Thank you for saving my children" without the word "saving."

Atticus is thanking Arthur aka Boo for saving his children- we are studing this novel in english right now and some people got confused as well

It's not ambiguous. Atticus is the father.

It's not ambiguous. Atticus is the father.

Atticus was thanking Boo Radley for saving his children!

no.

You're kidding, right?

Shelley
Rain: A Dust Bowl Story
http://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.com

I'm sorry but is this not extremely obvious?? Boo Radley saved his kids so he's thanking them.

It's an interesting point and one I'd never even considered (or my Mum who's read Mockingbird a million times) but I think on this occasion it's a step too far. I'm sure if Atticus didn't say something upfront to Jeb & Scout then there'd have been more mentioned/hinted at about it in the book, possibly from Calpernia (sp?), possibly when the children went to her church.