1)     Explain the Important Quotes. Choose five important quotes for the following characters: Atticus, Scout, and Jem.  Choose three important quotes for the following characters: Miss Maudie, and Dill.  Choose one important quote for the following characters: Judge Taylor, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley.  Once you choose all of your quotes, provide an explanation of what each quote says about each character and/or how it relates to the themes in the text.

 

Atticus-

1.      “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.” (30).

Explanation- This says that in order to know what someone is feeling like you have to understand what they have to go through, so don't judge by their looks or rumors.

 

 

2.      “You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anyone says to you, don’t let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change…it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning.” (76).

Ex. This tells that sometimes even when you are really frustrated, peace is the best way to deal with violence.

 

 

3.      Atticus's voice was even: “’Alexandra, Calpurnia's not leaving this house until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but I couldn't have got along without her all these years. She's a faithful member of this family and you'll simply have to accept things the way they are’” (156).

Ex. This shows that even though Calpurnia is black, Atticus won’t fire her because she is like part of their family.

 

4.      "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." (109).

Ex. This shows how people can think whatever they want even if it’s not what everyone thinks.

 

5.      "Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open."

Ex. This tells that Atticus thnks that hiding things is worse than letting everybody know.

 

 

Tom Robinson-

1.      “I was just trying to help her out, suh” … “Yes suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em” (224-225).

Ex. This shows that Tom Robinson was just trying to help out Mayela because of his compassion, but died instead.

 

 

Boo Radley-

1.      “’Will you take me home?’” (320).

Ex. This quote shows how Boo still remains a child even though he is very old because of him being locked up in his house.

 

 

Jem-

1.       “If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they just get along with each other?” (260).

Ex. This shows that Jem thinks that if everyone is a person, then why can’t they all get along.

 

 

2.       “Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside.” (260).

Ex. This shows that Jem is starting to understand the realities and dangers of life.

 

3.      “Jem shook his head.  As Atticus’s fists went to his hips so did Jem’s, and as they faced each other I could see little resemblance between them, Jem’s soft brown hair and eyes, his oval face and snug-fitting ears were our mother’s contrastingly oddly with Atticus’s graying black hair and square cut features but they were somehow alike. Mutual defiance made them alike.

‘Son, I said go home.’

Jem shook his head.” (174).

Ex. This quote shows that Jem is brave and wants to help protect his dad.

 

4.     "'  There goes the meanest man that ever took a breath of life.'"

Ex. This tells about what Jem thinks about Mr. Radley.

 

5.     "'Mr. Nathan's gonna find 'em in the morning, Jem.  He knows you lost 'em.  When he shows 'em to Atticus it'll be pretty bad, that's all there is to it.  Go'n back to bed.'

'That's what I know said Jem. 'That's why I'm goin after 'em.'" (62).

Judge Taylor

 

1. “’Did it every strike you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend that boy was no accident? That Judge Taylor might have had his reasons for naming him?’’’ (247).

Ex: Judge Taylor was smart and knew why he chose Atticus because he would try his hardest.

 

 

"I think I'll be a clown when I get grown," said Dill.  "Yes, sir, a clown.... There ain't one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so I'm gonna join the circus and laugh my head off."  "You got it backwards, Dill," said Jem.  "Clowns are sad, it's folks that laugh at them."  "Well, I'm gonna be a new kind of clown.  I'm gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks"(248).

Ex: Dill likes to make people laugh and that he wants to change the world to make it a better future.

“’ I’m Charles Baker Harris,”’ he said.”’ I can read”’(7).

Ex: Dill is a very smart person and he is very intelligent back in that century.

“’They do get on a lot better without me, I can’t help them any…You’re not a boy. Boys get out and play baseball, they don’t hang around the house worrying their folks”’(103).

Ex: Dill is a very lonely person and that he knows how it feels to be isolated by his parents.

‘"The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humility to think, when they look at a Negro, there but for the Lord's kindness am I"’ (247).

Ex: All people should be all equal even though people are different probably by color or race.

 

‘"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird"’(103).

Ex:  Mocking birds are like innocent people that are good people and shouldn’t be harmed too, also make people happy.

“’There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results”’(chapter 5).

Ex: There are different people in this world that don’t understand anything new that happened.

“’I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”’(253).

Ex: All people are all the same and should be.

 

“'Until I feared I would loose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing”’(18).

Ex: Scout doesn’t like to stuff that is not fun but realizes that it is important. People don’t when something is important to them. 

"'Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad"'(chapter 31).

Ex: Scout feels what Boo has gone through because he was lonely and now Scout knows what his point of view was.

"'Somwhere, I had received the impression that Fine Folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had, but Aunt Alexandra was of the opinion, obliquely expressed, that the longer a family had been squatting on one patch of land the finer it was"'(chapter 13).

Ex: Scout thinks that folks are good with what they have, but her aunt thinks that quality is important and family tree. But Scout disagrees, she allows people to make their own choices.

'"I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said"'(93).

Ex: Scout is a very slow learner because of not understanding Atticus, when she got older she realized that she knows everything now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography-

"The Rag Blog: BOOKS / Jonah Raskin : 'Mockingbird' Is Muddleheaded and Superficial." The Rag Blog. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/books-jonah-raskin-mockingbird-is.html>.

 

"Hollywood Honors Robert Duvall with Hand and Footprint Ceremony at Graumanâs Chinese Theatre." Hollywood Honors Robert Duvall with Hand and Footprint Ceremony at Graumanâs Chinese Theatre. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. http://lastheplace.com/2011/01/09/hollywood-legend-robert-duvall-receives-hand-footprint-honor-on-80th-birthday/.

 

"Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches." : Whatever Happened to John Megna? Web. 05 Mar. 2012. <http://exquisitelyboredinnacogdoches.blogspot.com/2009/02/whatever-happened-to-john-megna.html>.

 

"Oscars 2012: Academy Awards through The years." Timelines.latimes.com. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://timelines.latimes.com/academy-awards/>.

"Jem Finch | Facebook." Facebook. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jem-Finch/139297407682.

http://www.allgreatquotes.com/to_kill_a_mockingbird_quotes.shtml

http://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/morality-ethics-quotes-all.html