To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - key quotes



TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

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KEY QUOTES

PART ONE (CHAPTERS 1-11)

GCSE ENGLISH EXAM:

Remember that you will have only a CLEAN copy of the novel available in the exam so it is important to remember the structure of the novel and where significant events take place within it! Good Luck (

THE FINCH FAMILY

ATTICUS FINCH

“Jem and I were accustomed to our father’s last-will-and-testament diction, and we were free to interrupt Atticus for a translation when it was beyond our understanding.” (chap.3, p.35)

“Atticus don’t ever do anything to Jem and me in the house that he don’t do in the yard.” (chap.5, p.51)

“Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember.” (chap.6, p.62)

“…all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you’ll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn’t let you down.” (chap.11, p.116)

“…before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.” (chap.11, p.116)

“You aren’t really a nigger-lover, then, are you?”

“I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody…” (chap.11, p.120)

“Every night Atticus would read us the sports pages of the newspaper.” (chap.11, p.122)

JEM FINCH

“In all his life, Jem had never declined a dare.” (chap.1, p.14)

“Jem was a born hero.” (chap.4, p.44)

“Jem was not one to dwell on past defeats…” (chap.6, p.57)

AUNT ALEXANDRA

“Aunt Alexandra was Atticus’ sister… I decided that she had been swapped at birth.” (chap.9, p.86)

“… the only time I ever heard Atticus speak sharply to anyone was when I once heard him say, ‘Sister, I don the best I can with them!” (chap.9, p.90)

“Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches…” (chap.9, p.90)

THE RADLEY FAMILY

“A Negro would not pass the Radley place at night.” (chap.1, p.9)

“The Radley’s, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves.” (chap.1, p.10)

“Mr Radley and his wife had lived there with their two sons as long as anybody could remember.” (chap.1, p.10)

“The shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways: closed doors meant illness and cold weather only.” (chap.1, p.10)

BOO (ARTHUR) RADLEY

“Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom”. (chap.1, p.9)

“If the judge released Arthur, Mr. Radley would see to it that Arthur gave no further trouble.” (chap.1, p.11)

“Mr Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen years.” (chap.1, p.11)

“… there were other ways of making people into ghosts.” (chap.1, p.12)

“I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did.” (chap.5, p.51)

MR RADLEY

“Mr Radley walked down to town at eleven thirty every morning and came back promptly at twelve.” (chap.1, p.10)

THE EWELL FAMILY

“They were people but they lived like animals.” (chap.3, p.34)

“They come first day every year and then leave.” (chap.3, p.30)

BURRIS EWELL

“He was the filthiest human I had ever seen.” (chap.3, p.29)

“You ain’t sendin’ me home, missus. I was on the verge of leavin’ – I done my time for this year.” (chap.3, p.30)

“He’s a mean one, a hard-down mean one.” (chap.3, p.30)

“Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a school-teacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’!” (chap.3, p.31)

BOB EWELL

“A man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains.” (chap.3, p.34)

THE CUNNINGHAM FAMILY

“The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back – no church baskets, no scrip stamps. They get along on what they have.” (chap.3, p.22)

“The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest.” (chap.3, p.23)

“As the Cunninghams had no money to pay a lawyer they simply paid us with what they had.” (chap.3, p.23)

WALTER CUNNINGHAM

“Walter Cunningham’s face told everybody in the first grade he had hookworms.” (chap.3, p.21)

“He had never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life.” (chap.3, p.22)

OTHER CHARACTERS

CALPURNIA

“She was all angles and bones, nearsighted, squinted, her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.” (chap.1, p.6)

“Our battles were epic and one-sided. Calpurnia always won, mainly because Atticus always took her side.” (chap.1, p.6)

“… when she was furious Calpunia’s grammar became erratic. When in tranquillity, her grammar was as good as anybody’s in Maycomb. Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than most coloured folks.” (chap.3, p.27)

“We couldn’t operate a single day without Cal, have you ever thought of that?” (chap.3, p.28)

MRS DUBOSE

“…neighbourhood opinion was unanimous that Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old woman who ever lived.” (chap.4, p.39)

“Don’t you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs Dubose!” (chap.11, p.110)

“what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!” (chap.11, p.112)

“Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (chap.11, p.113)

“I wanted you to see something about her – I wanted you to see what real courage is… she was the bravest person I ever knew.” (chap.11, p.124)

MISS MAUDIE

“Miss Maudie hated her house: time spent indoors was time wasted.” (chap.5, p.47)

“Jem and I had considerable faith in Miss Maudie… She was our friend.” (chap.5, p.49)

“Miss Maudie puzzled me. With most of her possessions gone and her beloved yard a shambles, she still took a lively and cordial interest in Jem’s and my affairs.” (chap.8, p.81)

GROWING UP

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (chap.3, p.33)

“I tried to climb into Jen’s skin and walk around in it.” (chap.7, p.64)

“I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be.” (chap.9, p.82)

“It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight.” (chap.9, p.85)

“Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.” (chap.9, p.83)

“Do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus?” (chap.9, p.83)

LESSONS THE CHILDREN LEARN

• From Calpurnia – that politeness and respect should be shown to all people, even if they are not like you.

• From Atticus – not to fight, to appreciate different types of courage, to learn tolerance and be able to turn the other cheek.

• From Aunt Alexandra – the virtues of being a lady.

PREJUDICE

RACIAL PREJUDICE

“Mr Radley shot a Negro in his collard patch.” (chap.6, p.60)

“Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.” (chap.9, p.83)

“Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again.” (chap.9, p.92)

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (chap.10, p.100)

“Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for.” (chap.11, p.113)

GENDER PREJUDICE

“Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.” (chap.4, p.45)

“Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches…” (chap.9, p.90)

“Boys don’t cook.” (chap.9, p.91)

“…what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!” (chap.11, p.112)

PREJUDICE TOWARDS INDIVIDUALS

Use relevant quotes on Boo Radley.

CHAPTER SUMMARIES

CHAPTER 1

Introduction. Arrival of Dill. Children try to get Boo to come out.

CHAPTER 2

Scout starts school. Miss Caroline Fisher. Cunningham family.

CHAPTER 3

Burris Ewell at school. Ewell family.

CHAPTER 4

Boo leaves gifts in tree. Dill returns to Maycomb

CHAPTER 5

Children attempt to send Boo a letter.

CHAPTER 6

Children try to spy Boo.

CHAPTER 7

Boo leaves more gifts. Hole filled with cement. Tom arrested for alleged rape.

CHAPTER 8

Snow in Maycomb. Miss Maudie’s house fire.

CHAPTER 9

Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson. Scout fight Cousin Francis.

CHAPTER 10

Atticus shoots a rabid dog.

CHAPTER 11

Jem beheads Mrs Dubose’s camellias and has to read to her. She overcomes her morphine addiction and dies.

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