To Kill a Mockingbird Justice and Judgment Quotes Page 1

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Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"Atticus, you must be wrong...."

"How's that?"

"Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong...."

"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." (11.54-57)

Majority rule doesn’t determine individual standards of right and wrong, but what about community standards? Isn’t that what a jury does, vote on what is just in a particular case?

Quote #2

"You goin' to court this morning?" asked Jem. […]

"I am not. 't's morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, it's like a Roman carnival."

"They hafta try him in public, Miss Maudie," I said. "Wouldn't be right if they didn't."

"I'm quite aware of that," she said. "Just because it's public, I don't have to go, do I?" (16.40-48)

While Tom’s trial is on the one hand a major moment for (the denial of) civil rights in Maycomb, it’s also perceived as entertainment. Miss Maudie’s refusal to attend is also a refusal to join the group of people who see the trial as a fun day out.

Quote #3

So far, things were utterly dull: nobody had thundered, there were no arguments between opposing counsel, there was no drama; a grave disappointment to all present, it seemed. Atticus was proceeding amiably, as if he were involved in a title dispute. With his infinite capacity for calming turbulent seas, he could make a rape case as dry as a sermon. (17.56)

The battle between prosecution and defense is also a battle between emotion and reason. Atticus’s calm, rational demeanor provides a model for how he hopes the jury will behave.

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