In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Sheriff Heck Tate is a man who restrains his first impulses and defers them to his better judgment. In Chapter 10 when a mad dog threatens the Finch neighborhood, Sheriff Tate hands his rifle to Atticus--to the surprise of Jem and Scout--saying, "Take him, Mr. Finch....this is a one-shot job!" Tate knows that Atticus is a better shot than he.
In another episode, in Chapter 17 as Heck Tate testifies in the trial of Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch asks the sheriff about the condition in which he found Mayella after he was called to her home. Mr. Tate responds to the question of which eye was blackened on Mayella,
It was her right eye, Mr. Finch. I remember now, she was bunged up on that side of her face...
Then, he blinks as though "something had suddenly been made plain to him." Turning his head, Mr. Tate looks at Tom Robinson. Continuing his testimony, the sheriff reports that the girl's arms were bruised and the throat had finger marks all around. When Atticus asks him if they were at the back of her neck, Mr. Tate replies,
Yes, sir, she had a small throat, anybody could'a reached around it with--
Atticus instructs the sherriff to just answer the question yes or no, and "Mr. Tate fell silent." Realizing that providing too much information can be as damaging as not giving enough, Sherriff Tate restrains himself.
In the final scenes when Mr. Tate reports to Atticus what has happened to Bob Ewell, he discusses the attack on Jem,trying to calmly explain that Bob Ewell is the kind of man that "ain't worth the bullet it takes to shoot 'em"; he would think nothing of killing Atticus's children.
Mr. Tate sighed. 'We'd better get on. Scout, you heard him behind you...'
Tate controls himself in this situation, also, acting with professionalism as he makes inquires about what has transpired with Jem and Scout.
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