What similarities do you see between Atticus Finch and Penn and Tom Cage?

Penn confesses that the heroic character at the center of "To Kill a Mockingbird", Atticus Finch, was the inspiration for his desire to become a lawyer. He also says that his father, Tom, was as close as you could come to Finch in the real world. What similarities do you see between Atticus Finch and Penn and Tom Cage?

I see no similarties between Penn and Atticus Finch. I do see similarties between Atticus Finch and Tom Cage. If it was not for the adultery of Tom Cage, he would be like Atticus Finch. The character Tom Cage show similarties to Mr. Finch by him being a doctor instead of a lawyer and helping the blacks.

Tom and Penn Cage, as well as Atticus Finch, are all professional southern men considered to be leaders in their communities. For me that is where the similarities end in this trilogy. At the outset of book one, I felt sympathetic for both Tom and Penn Cage. However, as I continued reading in books two and three, that sympathy began to quickly diminish, and by the end of book three, it is nearly gone altogether. Although Tom and Penn are both professionals, one a lawyer, an author, and now a city servant, and the other a doctor, I found them both morally and physically weak and seeming to hold on to values that each often had a difficult time espousing or following Yes, I know Dr. Cage was a big help in the community, providing medical attention and service to the black community at a time when it was unacceptable to do so (hard as that is to believe). But what he did on his way to fulfilling that service is not sensible or excusable - and what he did to his family in the process is almost even worse. And what struck me as even more unbelievable and reprehensible is that his son followed his very example. And to add insult to injury, where was Penn's focus on the community he was to be leading while all this was going on? I know these two men are to be considered the good forces in these books, but their characters are very flawed and in no way measure up to that of Atticus Finch. Perhaps that is why Lee's Mockingbird is considered one of the finest pieces of fiction every written. In Atticus Finch she creates the true hero, a community leader acting for the people, not himself, and while, as a professional, he must be among the wealthier members of the community, he remains humble in every way. In addition, he is an outstanding father and family figure. Lee created a seemingly perfect man and she did so while making him perfectly believable and lovable as well. Iles does not come close with either Penn or Tom - and perhaps he did not intend to. But with the forces of good and evil at the heart of this trilogy, I expected to the protagonists to be as positive and the antagonists were evil. That is simply not the case. I found myself rooting for Walt Garrity and Quentin Avery before either of the Cages, and in fact, I wondered why they were so committed to him.

Atticus Finch is an unforgettable character because he embraces and displays the characteristics analogous to a truly admirable human being. I do not see Tom or Penn Cage fitting into the same category.

Since I read Harper Lee’s “Go Set a Watchman” after reading TKAM I do see a parallel between Tom Cage and Atticus Finch. They both start out as men you admire and want to emulate but upon learning more about them you find they have feet of clay. Not nearly the highly moral role models you thought they were.

donnac - I was afraid that might happen and for that very reason have shied away from Go Set a Watchman!

Like susiej I too have not read GO SET A WATCHMAN, and I don't intend to.
Q

Other than each of them were professionals, I see no similarities. Atticus was an honest upstanding man who worked within the law and justice system while defending his client. Penn and Tom each ignored moral coda. Penn especially seemed to think that whatever he did, whether it was lying to the FBI, withholding evidence, or killing people, was okay if wanted to do it. I saw very little remorse on his part. If I recall, both he and his father denied the existence of a higher power. Perhaps some religious conscience would have done them good.

I have not read Go Set a Watchman and have no intention to. I believe that it was a first attempt at writing by Harper Lee that she obviously was not happy with and did not ever intend to publish. Unfortunately, in her elderly and vulnerable years, the individual entrusted with her affairs seemed to see it as a way to make money off of her and the book publisher jumped at it.

Having read "Go Set a Watchman", I only see that all of us mortals have flaws.

I did read Go Set a Watchman and for the record didn't like it!! Atticus Finch was the perfect roll model for so many aspiring lawyers. He was a good and honorable man. In their own way I thought Penn and Tom were also.......but not to Atticus' standard. They both had faults, as all of us do, some forgivable some not.

The Atticus Finch of "Go Set a Watchman" had parallels to Tom Cage in that both were well-regarded but turned out to be flawed. I wish I had not read "go Set a Watchman" so that I could have maintained my admiration for Atticus Finch. As far as Penn Cage, by the end of "Mississippi Blood," I was tired of his self-serving, lying ways. He seemed the most amoral of the three.