Who Is Atticus Selfless

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem. Along with raising his children as a single parent, he is also a lawyer. Consequently to his employment, he defends Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape against a white woman, in a long heated trial. Because Atticus is a selfless and an open minded person, it makes sense for Atticus to take a stand for Tom Robinson.

The first reason why it makes for Atticus to take a stand for Tom Robinson is because he is selfless. Throughout the novel you can see several instances of Atticus helping others when they truly need it. One example is shown when Scout was recalling the Cunningham’s entailment. She stated “After a dreary conversation in our living room one night about his entailment, before Mr. Cunningham left he said, ‘Mr. Finch, I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to pay you.’ ‘Let that be the least of your worries, Walter,’ Atticus said”(27).

In several occasions, Atticus has demonstrated his tolerance and love of others despite race or social status. The first example of this is when Atticus defends his housekeeper Calpurnia. “Alexandra, Calpurnia’s not leaving this house until she wants to…”(183). Calpurnia is black and therefor thought as lesser that the white citizens of Maycomb, including Atticus’s sister, Alexandra. Any other white man in town would have let Calpurnia go but not Atticus. He does not see Calpurnia as a cheap source of labour, but instead a “faithful member of this family”(182) showing that is open minded towards everyone including hersblacks. A second example that authenticates Atticus’s open mindedness is when he states that “You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view”(39) This shows why Atticus is open minded because he does not judge people on their looks or status but rather their