Tom Robinson Character Analysis In To Kill A Mockingbird | LitCharts
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Tom Robinson Quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The To Kill a Mockingbird quotes below are all either spoken by Tom Robinson or refer to Tom Robinson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Chapter 9 Quotes “If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?”
“For a number of reasons,” said Atticus. “The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again.”
[…]
"Atticus, are we going to win it?"
“No, honey.”
“Then why—”
“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,” Atticus said.
Related Characters: Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: 
Chapter 11 Quotes “Atticus, you must be wrong…”
“How's that?”
“Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong…”
Related Characters: Related Themes: 
Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: 
Unlock with LitCharts A+ Chapter 19 Quotes “If you had a clear conscience, why were you scared?”
“Like I says before, it weren't safe for any nigger to be in a—fix like that.”
“But you weren't in a fix—you testified that you were resisting Miss Ewell. Were you so scared that she'd hurt you, you ran, a big buck like you?”
“No suh, I's scared I'd be in court, just like I am now.”
“Scared of arrest, scared you'd have to face up to what you did?”
“No suh, scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do.”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ “The way that man called him 'boy' all the time an' sneered at him, an' looked around at the jury every time he answered— … It ain't right, somehow it ain't right to do 'em that way. Hasn't anybody got any business talkin' like that—it just makes me sick.”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Chapter 22 Quotes “They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep.”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Chapter 25 Quotes Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.
Related Characters: Related Symbols: Related Themes: Related Literary Devices: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Get the entire To Kill a Mockingbird LitChart as a printable PDF. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S. Download 
Tom Robinson Quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The To Kill a Mockingbird quotes below are all either spoken by Tom Robinson or refer to Tom Robinson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Chapter 9 Quotes “If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?”
“For a number of reasons,” said Atticus. “The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again.”
[…]
"Atticus, are we going to win it?"
“No, honey.”
“Then why—”
“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,” Atticus said.
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Chapter 11 Quotes “Atticus, you must be wrong…”
“How's that?”
“Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong…”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Chapter 19 Quotes “If you had a clear conscience, why were you scared?”
“Like I says before, it weren't safe for any nigger to be in a—fix like that.”
“But you weren't in a fix—you testified that you were resisting Miss Ewell. Were you so scared that she'd hurt you, you ran, a big buck like you?”
“No suh, I's scared I'd be in court, just like I am now.”
“Scared of arrest, scared you'd have to face up to what you did?”
“No suh, scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do.”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ “The way that man called him 'boy' all the time an' sneered at him, an' looked around at the jury every time he answered— … It ain't right, somehow it ain't right to do 'em that way. Hasn't anybody got any business talkin' like that—it just makes me sick.”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Chapter 22 Quotes “They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep.”
Related Characters: Related Themes: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Chapter 25 Quotes Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.
Related Characters: Related Symbols: Related Themes: Related Literary Devices: Page Number and Citation: Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis: Unlock with LitCharts A+ Previous Aunt Alexandra Previous Aunt Alexandra Next Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose Next Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose Cite This Page Close Company About Us Our Story Support Help Center Contact Us Connect Facebook Twitter Legal Terms of Service Privacy Policy Privacy Request Home About Contact Help LitCharts, a Learneo, Inc. business Copyright © 2025 All Rights Reserved Terms Privacy Privacy Request 
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