Atticus Finch

Small-town Southern lawyer assigned to defend Tom Robinson in an unwinnable case; takes it seriously when most expected a token defense; is despised by neighbors, threatened, his children put at risk; loses the verdict; is mourned by the black community as he leaves the courtroom. Failure mode: None in the defense itself. Restoration path: Defend the case as if the verdict could be just; raise the children to see it. Markers: assigned a case the town wants lost; takes it as if winnable; social cost to family; mounts a real defense in losing; standing-when-passes recognition — Atticus Finch, Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (Literature)