To Kill a Mockingbird Over the Hedge "I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who are born to do our jobs unpleasant to us. Yours father is one of them." – Miss Maudie The quote above states that Atticus Finch was a man who did unpleasant things, but this quote is false. Miss Maudie had all the good intentions when she said this to Jem and Scout, and her statement was interpreted the way she intended it to be interpreted by the children. His point could have been made better if the part that reads “our unpleasant jobs” had been replaced with “what is right.” Atticus only did unpleasant things because he knew they were the right thing to do. Miss Maudie told the children about their father in this way only to avoid telling the rest of the town that they were wrong. Atticus remained a pillar of righteousness in a city whose moral foundations were weak to say the least. When Atticus took on Tom Robinson's case, he treated the case no differently than any other case he might have handled. He knew there was no way Tom could be saved from death, no matter how well he defended him. From his opening statements to his closing statements, Atticus remained vigilant in his defense of Tom. Another consequence of Tom Robinson's defense in court, in addition to being known as a "nigger lover" and opening himself up to many other forms of racial hatred from the good people of Maycomb, Atticus was also arguing against a man known for be a violent drunk. Bob Ewell was a scary man and it was noble of Atticus to put himself in the position to stand up to such an unstable individual. Atticus remained a gentleman when Ewell confronted him at the post office. Most men in his position would have lashed out violently at Robert E. after being spit on. Atticus did the right thing and remained a gentleman throughout the confrontation. Miss Maudie's statement is true in that the right things she did were sometimes unpleasant, I think Aunt Alexandra's stay with the Finch family was one of those things. Even though Aunt's stay had not been entirely his idea, Atticus tolerated her stay and the way she treated the children because he knew that in some way she was good for the children. The scouts needed to have a feminine influence in his life and unfortunately that meant having a sometimes cold and stern woman living with them.