Quote Originally Posted by Del Murder View Post
I think it's more than just mistrust, but that's probably part of it. I think the fact that he's a teacher shows that he cares a lot about education and his adventures to collect rare artifacts are significantly motivated by his desire to educate people.
Certainly characters are capable of having multiple facets.

The key point of American Individualism, anyway, is 'standing out' rather than 'fitting in' rather than a matter of selfishness vs altruism. And he doesn't conform to anyone's ideas of what he should be doing; he is driven by his own will.