Original artwork, not a still
To Kill a Mockingbird · 1960
The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Atticus quietly rules out the easy defence of going along with the crowd: a vote can settle a law, but it cannot settle what you can live with. The line is a favourite for essays and protest signs, and it is the novel's cleanest statement of why Atticus takes a case he knows he will lose.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for To Kill a MockingbirdShow the scene
In Chapter 11, Jem has flown into a rage at their neighbour Mrs. Dubose and destroyed her camellia bushes. When Atticus gets home with the broken baton and a camellia, Jem confesses and Atticus sends him to apologise. While he is gone, Scout crawls into her father's lap, upset. She points out that almost everyone in Maycomb thinks he is wrong to defend Tom Robinson. Atticus replies that they are entitled to their opinion and to respect, but that before he can live with other people he has to live with himself, and a person's conscience is the one thing that does not follow majority rule.
Sources (2)
- LitCharts, Chapter 11 summarySummaryReference checked
- LitCharts, To Kill a Mockingbird quotesChapter 11 quote on majority rule (p. 120)Reference checked
Context reviewed
