Editor's Choice
What are important quotes for Bob Ewell, Atticus, Scout, Jem, and Aunt Alexandra in chapters 28-31 of To Kill a Mockingbird?
Quick answer:
In chapters 28-31, key quotes highlight character development and themes. Jem shows maturity by comforting Scout after her pageant mistake. Aunt Alexandra's empathy emerges when she gives Scout overalls after Bob Ewell's attack. Bob Ewell's malevolence is evident in his actions and Heck Tate's comments about him. Atticus grapples with ethical dilemmas, ultimately protecting Boo Radley. Scout's understanding of Boo deepens, recognizing his kindness and comparing exposing him to "shootin' a mockingbird."
JEM:
"She made me feel awful, but when Jem came to fetch me he was sympathetic. He said he couldn’t see my costume much from where he was sitting. How he could tell I was feeling bad under my costume I don’t know, but he said I did all right, I just came in a little late, that was all. Jem was becoming almost as good as Atticus at making you feel right when things went wrong."
-This excerpt shows that Jem is becoming more sympathetic towards Scout and maturing. He makes Scout feel better after she performs badly in the pageant.
AUNT ALEXANDRA:
"She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls. 'Put these on, darling,' she said, handing me the garments she most despised."
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"She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls. 'Put these on, darling,' she said, handing me the garments she most despised."
-Aunt Alexandra has always been so correct that she is often unsympathetic. However, when Jem and Scout are attacked, she is entirely sympathetic, and she hands Scout overalls, not caring that these are the overalls that Aunt Alexandra usually disparages as unladylike.
BOB EWELL:
"Mr. Tate found his neck and rubbed it. 'Bob Ewell’s lyin‘ on the ground under that tree down yonder with a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs. He’s dead, Mr. Finch.""
-Heck Tate, the sheriff, understands that Bob Ewell attacked Jem and Scout before Atticus understands the reality of the situation.
CHAPTER 29
BOB EWELL:
“Mr. Finch, there’s just some kind of men you have to shoot before you can say hidy to ‘em. Even then, they ain’t worth the bullet it takes to shoot ’em. Ewell ‘as one of ’em.”
-Heck Tate, the sheriff, explains to Atticus that Bob Ewell is unadulteratedly evil.
CHAPTER 30
ATTICUS
“I’m sorry if I spoke sharply, Heck,” Atticus said simply, “but nobody’s hushing this up. I don’t live that way.”
“'Heck,' Atticus’s back was turned. 'If this thing’s hushed up it’ll be a simple denial to Jem of the way I’ve tried to raise him. Sometimes I think I’m a total failure as a parent, but I’m all they’ve got. Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.'"
-In these two quotes, Atticus resists Heck Tate's decision to tell the town that Bob Ewell fell on his knife. Atticus at first thinks Jem killed Bob Ewell, as he doesn't understand that Boo killed Bob Ewell. Atticus insists on telling what he thinks is the truth--that Jem killed Bob. Atticus feels that it's up to him to raise his kids in an ethical way.
"Atticus sat looking at the floor for a long time. Finally he raised his head. 'Scout,' he said, 'Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?'"
-In the end, Atticus decides to tell the town that Bob Ewell fell on his knife to spare Boo Radley the attention that he would receive if the truth were known.
SCOUT
"We came to the street light on the corner, and I wondered how many times Dill had stood there hugging the fat pole, watching, waiting, hoping. I wondered how many times Jem and I had made this journey, but I entered the Radley front gate for the second time in my life. Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His fingers found the front doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again."
-Scout is finally able to enter Boo's yard, as she is no longer afraid of him. She understands that he is a kind man who saved her life and that of Jem.
ATTICUS. Atticus displays his gratitude to Boo for protecting Jem and Scout in his typical reserved manner.
"Thank you for my children, Arthur," he said. (Chapter 30)
JEM. Perhaps the last words Jem speaks in the novel are his most heroic. When the children realize that their stalker is now running toward them, Jem prepares to defend Scout.
"Run, Scout! Run! Run!" Jem screamed. (Chapter 28)
SCOUT. Scout's fantasies about Boo finally materialize when she sees him standing in the shadows of Jem's room. "Hey, Boo," I said. Scout understands Sheriff Tate's decision to keep Boo's name out of the official report of Bob's death and "draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight."
"Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" (Chapter 30)
AUNT ALEXANDRA. Alexandra's motherly instincts finally emerge following Bob's attack on the children.
... had I thought about it then, I would never have let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls. "Put these on, darling," she said, handing me the garments she most despised. (Chapter 28)
BOB EWELL. The only utterance by Bob during these chapters comes when Scout accidentally stumbles into him during the attack on the children.
Its owner said, "Uff!"... His stomach was soft but his arms were like steel. He slowly squeezed the breath out of me. (Chapter 28)