Integrity is exhibited when Atticus stands up for his personal beliefs and leads others to think twice about their actions. Atticus shows integrity when he admits that he loves everyone, not just those of the same race. When asked, “You aren’t really a nigger-lover, then, are you?”, Atticus responded “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody… I’m hard put, sometimes --baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you.” (Lee 145). Atticus has strong morals that are presented during the discussion he had with Scout. Even though everyone in Maycomb believes that people of color are worthless, Atticus isn’t scared to share that he truly loves them and he’s willing to fight for them. Atticus could follow the crowd, and decide to let Tom Robinson work through his own issues, but he is willing to face the challenge that nobody else is willing to take.
Not only did Atticus take on an almost impossible challenge, he also taught his children what he …show more content…
I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand” (117). Atticus knows Maycomb is a racist town, and he doesn’t want his children to end up like other community members. When he brings up “Maycomb’s usual disease” he is speaking of the prejudice that the town has towards people of color. He wants to enforce his beliefs on his children, and make sure they love all people, no matter the color of their skin. When he mentions that he doesn’t “pretend to understand” why the people of Maycomb “go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up”, Atticus displays that he doesn’t simply go along with the rest of the