Rayford and Atticus

In my book, Left Behind, one of the character's names is Rayford Steele. He is a pilot. He is in his late fourties and he has been Left Behind. His wife was taken in the Rapture. He is left with his daughter Chloe. Rayford is a tall, slender guy that has to deal with the antichrist because Rayford flys his plane. Ray is put through many trials because Carpathia, the antichrist, is always playing with his mind. I can relate Rayford to Atticus in Mockingbird because they are both trying to raise kids with out a mother present. Ray has Chloe and Atticus has Scout and Jem. Ray sometimes has a hard time relating to his daughter like Atticus does. I noticed that in both cases the children really missed their fathers alot because they were gone working alot. When they were home they tried to give the kids as much attention as they could but they liked to relax from a stressful day at work instead of playing. Atticus was a lawyer and Rayford was a pilot. They are both put under a tremendous amount of stress in both of their jobs because Ray has to deal with the antichrist and Atticus has to deal with racists. Ray discovers that it is alot harder than he thought to be faithful to God and yet keep his religion a secret from the antichrist. He used inside information on the job to try and save people from the traps of Carpathia. Atticus on the other hand also has alot of pressure. He has to keep his family and friends safe from the anger and persecution of racists who are mad at him for defending a black man, Tom Robinson. Bob Ewell even tries to kill Atticus' kids. Atticus felt really guilty because he sort of stirred up this stuff but he had to do it because it was the right thing to do. These characters are alot alike and they have some of the same struggles and reactions to sticky situations. Link.