What are five important quotes from Chapters 12 and 13 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

1. Shortly after entering First Purchase African M.E. Church, one of the prejudiced members questions Calpurnia about bringing Jem and Scout. Lula asks,

"I wants to know why you bringin‘ white chillun to nigger church." (Lee, 120)

2. Following the sermon, Scout asks several questions concerning the Robinson family and Tom's upcoming case. After Cal attempts to explain why Tom is on trial, Scout says, 

"Well, if everybody in Maycomb knows what kind of folks the Ewells are they’d be glad to hire Helen . . . what’s rape, Cal?" (125)

3. Jem finds it fascinating that Calpurnia lives a "modest double life" and asks why she speaks informally around her community members when she knows that it isn't right. Calpurnia responds by saying,

"Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin‘ on airs to beat Moses." (127)

4. In chapter 13, Aunt Alexandra moves into the Finch household and Scout attempts to describe her aunt. Scout mentions that Alexandra is obsessed with heredity and judges individuals based on the families they come from. Scout mentions that according to Aunt Alexandra,

Everybody in Maycomb, it seemed, had a Streak: a Drinking Streak, a Gambling Streak, a Mean Streak, a Funny Streak. (131)

5. Towards the end of chapter 13, Aunt Alexandra convinces her brother to give his children a lesson regarding their family history. Atticus attempts to act serious and tells Jem and Scout,

"Your aunt has asked me to try and impress upon you and Jean Louise that you are not from run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations’ gentle breeding . . . " (134)

What are five important quotes from Chapters 12 and 13 of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout in Love.  Dill has sent Scout a message: He will not be arriving in Maycomb this summer, and Scout is heartbroken that her "permanent fiance" is not there.

... summer was Dill... summer was the swiftness with which Dill would reach up and kiss me when Jem was not looking, the longings we sometimes felt for each other. With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable.  (Chapter 12)

First Purchase Church.  Maycomb's black citizens can never completely escape the dominance of the white man. Even their place of faith is compromised. Located in the black section of town known as the Quarters,

     Negroes worhipped in it on Sundays and white men gambled in it on weekdays.  (Chapter 12)

Calpurnia's Black and White Worlds.  Jem and Scout had only seen one side of Cal--that of the faithful Finch housekeeper. But they soon saw a different Cal when they accompanied her to church services in the Quarters.

     That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me. The idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages.  (Chapter 12)

Aunt Alexandra.  Alexandra's permanent visit was not entirely welcomed by everyone in town.

     Aunt Alexandra fitted into the world of Maycomb like a hand into a glove, but never into the world of Jem and me.  (Chapter 13)

Gentle Breeding.  Aunt Alexandra is a fanatic about family heritage and she badgers Atticus into explaining the importance of "gentle breeding" to the children. But when Scout is reduced to tears during his lecture, Atticus tells them to "Forget it."

     I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work.  (Chapter 13)

What are important quotes from chapters 5-12 in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In chapter 5, Scout spends some time with Miss Maudie on her porch and inquires about their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley. When Miss Maudie contemplates what goes on behind the Radley doors, she mentions that there are secrets inside that home and people would have no way of knowing how Mr. Radley keeps Boo indoors. Scout responds by saying that Atticus never does anything inside the house that he wouldn't do outside and Maudie responds by saying,

"Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets."

Miss Maudie's comment illustrates that Atticus is a morally-upright, honest man with nothing to hide.

In chapter 6, the children raid the Radley yard and narrowly escape when Nathan Radley comes outside wielding a shotgun. During their escape, Jem is forced to leave his pants behind in order to crawl underneath the fence. Later that night, Jem decides to travel back to the Radley house to retrieve his pants, which is a dangerous mission. Despite his sister's protests, Jem demonstrates his respect and admiration for Atticus by telling Scout,

"I—it’s like this, Scout ... Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way."

At the beginning of chapter 9, Atticus has a conversation with Scout about representing Tom Robinson in the upcoming trial. When Scout asks if he will win the case, Atticus tells her that he will not. Scout wonders why her father would even attempt to defend Tom knowing that he will lose and Atticus illustrates his integrity, courage, and optimism by saying,

"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win."

At the beginning of chapter 10, the children are playing with their air rifles and Atticus tells them that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Miss Maudie then elaborates on Atticus's comment by telling the children,

"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" (Lee, 93).

Throughout the novel, mockingbirds symbolically represent innocent, vulnerable beings in need of protection. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley both fit this description and are considered symbolic mockingbirds.

In chapter 11, Jem loses his temper when Mrs. Dubose makes a derogatory comment about his father and ends up destroying her camellia bush. As punishment, Atticus makes Jem read to Mrs. Dubose for two hours each day for an entire month. One evening, Scout asks her father the definition of "nigger-lover." She also asks Atticus if he is one and Atticus responds by saying,

"I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody ... I’m hard put, sometimes—baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you."

What are important quotes from chapters 5-12 in To Kill a Mockingbird?

“[Sometimes] the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of—oh, of your father.” (5)

Sometimes the most pious people are the most destructive.  Since religion was used as an excuse for racial prejudice and discrimination, this is an important statement.

As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it. (7)

You can’t really understand why another person does something unless you put yourself in the person’s place.

"[If] I didn’t [defend Tom Robinson] I couldn’t hold up my head in town"(9)

Atticus explains to Scout that he is defending Tom Robinson because he feels it is the right thing to do.  It is an indication that to Atticus, a person’s moral code is more important than facing community condemnation.

I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand… I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. I hope they trust me enough.” (9)

Atticus is worried that his children will be infected with the town’s racist notions.  He wants them to learn from his example, and knows that it will be difficult for them to fight off society’s influences.

Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. (10)

This quote from Atticus is one of the most famous in the book.  Literally and metaphorically, it means that people tend to go after the weak, even though the weak often make the most contribution.

“Well now, Miss Jean Louise,” she said, “still think your father can’t do anything? Still ashamed of him?” (10)

The children are ashamed of Atticus until he shows considerable courage and skill when shooting the mad dog.  This demonstrates that people are not always what they seem.

This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience—Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.” (11)

Again, Atticus demonstrates that while he is wrestling with the trouble the case is causing his family, he is still upholding his own moral code.  He tells her that, “the one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.  ... She was the bravest person I ever knew.” (11)

This quote demonstrates how physical and emotional courage are both two sides of the same coin, and sometimes courage is shown in unexpected ways.

“They’s my comp’ny,” said Calpurnia. Again I thought her voice strange: she was talking like the rest of them.

“Yeah, an‘ I reckon you’s comp’ny at the Finch house durin’ the week.” (12)

Race barriers work both ways.  It's also an example of Calpuria being educated, but acting differently with uneducated people in order to fit in.