When a baby comes to this world, home is the start of his life. A little baby spends most of his time with his parents. He learns his parents’ language. As he is growing up, he imitates his parents’ behaviors. As he is becoming a teenager, he learns his parents’ views of world and life. Parents are the first teachers of children. Parents have great effects on their children. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character, Jean Louise Finch’s father Atticus Finch is a great model of parents. There are also some parents who influence their children in a negative way, for example, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell’s father. As a father, Atticus and Bob affect their children in very different ways. They are different in the methods of educating children, attitudes on education and views of society.

Atticus is a single parent of two children, Scout and Jem. He places more emphasis on educating children. Atticus is very honest and moral. He tries his best to be a good model of his children. After Atticus finds out that Jem and Scout make fun on Boo Radley, he gives his children a lesson. "'So that's what you were doing, wasn't it?' 'Makin' fun of him?' 'No," said Atticus, "Putting his life's history on display for the edification of the neighborhood.' Jem seemed to swell a little. 'I didn't say we were doin' that, I didn't say it!' Atticus grinned dryly. 'You just told me,' he said. 'You stop this nonsense right now, every one of you.'" (Page 49) He uses his strong words to teach his children that they should not make fun on the Radleys, and Radleys are not bad people. This is a kind of father’s authority which makes children very convinced.

On the other hand, Bob Ewell does not care very much about his children. According the novel, Bob never concerns about his children. He does not go to work and earn money to support his family. Every month after getting his welfare from government, he goes to buy alcohol. He never thinks about his responsibility to feed and educate his children, just like the description in the book:

“Their relief checks was far from enough to feed the family, and there was went off in the swamp for days and came home sick; the weather was seldom cold enough to require shoes, but when it as, you could make dandy ones from strips of old tires; the family hauled its water in buckets from a spring that ran out at one end of the dump- they kept the surrounding area keeping clean went: if you wanted to wash you hauled your own water; the younger children had perpetual colds and suffered from chronic ground-itch.”

This is the actual portrayal of Ewells’ life. As a father, Bob does not feed his children and supports his family so that his children are not able to get physical need.

Atticus supports his children to go to school and encourages his children to take their education seriously. Atticus is both father and mother to Jem and Scout because their mother died earlier. He takes the mother’s responsibilities of taking care of their daily life, which includes going to school. After the Scout’s first day of school, Scout is criticized by Miss. Caroline who slaps Scout’s hand with a ruler. Miss. Caroline also tells Scout that Atticus is wrong and does not allow Atticus to teach Scout again so Scout does not want to go to school any more. But Atticus tells Scout “If you’ll concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have.” (Page 31)Atticus knows that Scout does not want to lose reading time with him, so he uses his knowledge and understanding about his daughter to teach Scout how important it is to go to school.

In a contrary, Bob Ewell does not support his children to go to school. He has no willing to go to school and also does not care if his children go to school or not, as Atticus says “They [Ewells] can go to school any time they want to, when they show the faintest symptom of wanting an education.”(Page 30) Ewells have no sense about school. Bob himself has never been to school so he does not understand why children have to go to school. He thinks “with two members of the family reading and writing, there was no need for the rest of them to learn…” (Page 183) That is the reason he never cares about his children’s education. This also shows how the two families are very different.

Atticus is a lawyer, and therefore treats everybody fairly. He is a great model of his children. He tries to teach his children about honesty, integrity, and fairness. At that time, in America, racial discrimination is very serious, but Atticus is brave to defend Tom Robinson, a black man. He does a great job in defending Tom Robinson in the courtroom. He gives a strong closing statement “‘the state has not produced one iota of medical evidence that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.'" (Page 203) Atticus proves that he is a great lawyer. He tells the truth and tries his best to convince everybody in courtroom. He shows out everyone how to be fair and honest, and this really has great impact on Jem and Scout. They learn how to be honest and treat everyone equally.

However, Bob Ewell is a shammer. He is the one who hits Mayella, but he lies to everyone that it was Tom Robinson who hits his daughter and wants to rape her as well. This is evident from the arguments during the trial. In the courtroom, Atticus asks Mayella "'It's not an easy question Miss Mayella, so I'll try again. Do you remember him beating you about the face?' Atticus's voice had lost its comfortableness; he was speaking in his arid, detached professional voice. 'Do you remember him beating you about the face?' Mayella says 'I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me.'" (Page 185) This witness is really weak, as she does not seem very confident in her answers. Also according Mr. Tate and Bob’s testimony, Mayella‘s word is hard to believe. It is not hard for the reader to figure out who actually hit Mayella. Bob lies in order to clear himself from a charge and smother up a scandal. He also puts Mayella up to lying. He is not responsible in teaching his children social values and morals at all, and this also has a negative effect on his daughter.

Atticus and Bob are both fathers, but one is a great father, the other is not. Atticus is a good model of a great parent on teaching children, supporting their education and giving the right views of society to his children, but Bob is selfish, ignores children’s education and lies to his children. As a parent, it is his responsibilities to take care his children, to bring up his children and to be a good model for his children. As a parent, it is his responsibilities to watch out his behaviors, to be honest and to be a fair. As a parent, it is his responsibilities to teach children right and wrong, to help children to cognitive this world and to lead his children to go on right way of life. Atticus does this very well parent and role model whom his children can look up to.