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Chapter 9
“‘Scout, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess. You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down.’”
In Chapter 9, Atticus, aware that his decision to defend Tom Robinson will impact the family, advises Scout to rise above whatever taunts come her way. Read more about this quote in Quotes by Character: Atticus.
“‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,’ Atticus said.”
When Scout asks Atticus if he’s going to win Tom Robinson’s case in Chapter 9, Atticus tells her a firm no. When he says that they “were licked a hundred years before we started,” he means that the case is doomed because of a long history of racial prejudice, but that’s no reason not to try his best to defend Tom anyway.
“But 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.”
In Chapter 9, Scout is eavesdropping on her father’s conversation with her uncle Jack about the upcoming trial. This line illustrates the distance between Scout as a child, who doesn’t yet understood her father’s motivations, and Scout the adult narrator, who has the benefit of hindsight and experience. As an adult, she understands her father wanted her to hear that he took the case because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to face his children. Read more about this quote in Quotes by Character: Scout.
Chapter 10
“‘Naw, Scout, it’s something you wouldn’t understand. Atticus is real old, but I wouldn’t care if he couldn’t do anything—I wouldn’t care if he couldn’t do a blessed thing.’”
After watching Atticus kill the mad dog in one shot in Chapter 10, Jem has a newfound respect for their father—both because of the skill he displayed during the incident and because of his father’s humility and discretion.
Chapter 11
“‘According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.’”
In Chapter 11, Atticus explains to Jem that Mrs. Dubose overcame her morphine addiction before her death, something she considered a moral victory. This act parallels Atticus’s defense of Tom Robinson; he may lose the case almost as surely as Mrs. Dubose was going to die, but true bravery, Atticus says, is seeing something through even if it’s ultimately a lost cause.
