LOT 7381, LORONG PASAR 1, EXPO

34600 KAMUNTING, PERAK

MALAYSIA

11 NOVEMBER 2020

Dear Atticus,

Hi! How have you been? I hope this letter finds you in the best of spirits. I’m sorry, I have not
been writing as regularly as I should. Things have been quite hectic, to be honest. Anyway, I
hope you and your children, Scout and Jem are doing well. I am writing to you this letter to
talk about the issue you have been dealing with before in your town, racism in particular.

I heard the news about you volunteered to offer your legal service in an alleged rape case
against a black man and found out that you lost the trial. First of all, I felt sorry for you but at
the same time, I’m quite surprised as well. I’m pretty sure you know that underneath that
seemingly calm town, Maycomb, gives off a powerful atmosphere of hostility towards the
African-American community. Don't get me wrong, Maycomb is a great town, but some of
the people in it do not always have the best intentions. Since the whites were the majority
there, many atrocities were perpetrated against black people. You decided to defend him
even though you know that you only have little hope of winning. Knowing you as someone
who did not consider an individual's color as a socially divisive element, you earned my
respect, not only me but everyone else as well. However, your decision to defend Tom
Robinson invited the wrath and anger of the Maycomb society.

I’ve heard from Mrs. Stephanie about the incident between you and Bob Ewell, father of the
white woman. He tried to provoke you to fight him physically by spitting at your face.
However, you did not lose your temper and took out your handkerchief, wiped it off, and
walked away. When Bob said that you were too proud to fight back, you simply said that you
were too old for it. Truthfully, that is an amusing way to deal with racist people like him, it’s
as if you told him to simmer down and take a chill pill. You let it go because you know that he
needed to blow off his steam on someone, and you are more willing to deal with it rather
than someone else becoming the victim of it. Therefore, you managed to prove that fighting
is not a sensible solution to every problem. I’ve also heard about Mrs. Dubose, an elderly, ill-
tempered, extremely racist woman who lived in your neighborhood. She always yelled at
your children and expressed her hatred to you because of your action of defending Tom. All
of this incident showed the negative attitude of Maycomb people, racist and selfish, only
favoring their own.
Nonetheless, deep down, you did not lose, Atticus. Obviously, Tom Robinson was unfairly
convicted just because he is black. It was quite unfortunate for Tom to live in such a racist
community. I’m sure that we all wanted Tom to be acquitted. However, we must continue to
fight for good. I admire how you handled things professionally and did not resort to violence.
The way you carried yourself, taught your children, and made your decision really makes
your manliness all the more real, all the more potent. You encouraged your children to be
empathetic toward people no matter who they are. Your manliness was not displayed in
great showy acts, but in quiet, consistent strength has become people’s inspiration,
especially for the African-American community.

Thank you for being a figure of hope to us. You taught us that the world is somehow unfair,
therefore we need to work hard to see changes even if it’s small. You showed us that
equality does exist and can be achieved slowly. Recently, racism is still a thing, many people
practise this racial discrimination. There are countless black people who have been and
continue to be targeted because of their skin color, for example, George Floyd. He died after
being arrested by white police, pinned to the floor, and unable to breathe. However, I believe
that each of us has a mutual responsibility to carve out a space for change. The struggles
we endure are worth our perseverance.

Finally, the fact that you, Atticus Finch, a fine upstanding lawyer, who volunteered to defend
a black man accused of attacking a white girl will always remain in our memories. That’s all
from me, I hope that you will achieve all the success in the future. Keep it up. Till then take
care of yourself and your family.

Yours sincerely,

Nawwar
Insyira
REFERENCES

Lee, H. (2010). To kill a mockingbird. London, England: Arrow Books.