How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You're new here, right?" said X-Ray. "I've been here for almost a year, I've never found anything. You know, my eyesight's not so good" […]
"I mean," X-Ray went on, "why should you get a day off when you've only been here for a couple of days? If anybody gets a day off, it should be me. That's only fair, right?" (11.7, 11)
All the boys are at camp because of the way the larger society sees justice. But here, X-Ray presents his own version of what's just and what isn't. And instead of just enforcing his made-up law, he tries to convince Stanley (and maybe himself?) that it's the right thing to do.
Quote #5
Because of the rain, there was nobody else out on the street. Even if there was, Katherine and Sam wouldn't have noticed. They were lost in their own world.
At that moment, however, Hattie Parker stepped out of the general store. They didn't see her, but she saw them. She pointed her quivering finger in their direction and whispered, "God will punish you!" (25.45-46)
Talk about ruining the moment. Right after the fateful kiss between Katherine and Sam, this Hattie Parker is offended by what she sees as sinful contact between a black man and a white woman. And what does she do? She threatens them with the punishment of a higher power. Like other characters in the book, she justifies her own point of view by deferring to some higher source of judgment – in this case, God.
Quote #6
"It's against the law for a Negro to kiss a white woman."
"Well, then you'll have to hang me, too," said Katherine. "Because I kissed him back."
"It ain't against the law for you to kiss him," the sheriff explained. "Just for him to kiss you."
"We're all equal under the eyes of God," she declared.
The sheriff laughed. "Then if Sam and I are equal, why won't you kiss me?" He laughed again. "I'll make you a deal. One sweet kiss, and I won't hang your boyfriend. I'll just run him out of town."
Miss Katherine jerked her hand free. As she hurried to the door, she heard the sheriff say, "The law will punish Sam. And God will punish you." (26.26-31)
Katherine and the sheriff clearly have conflicting views of justice, but both of them appeal to a higher power to justify their views. Can you think of anything that might account for the differences in their ideas of what's right and wrong? And why does the sheriff say that the law will punish Sam, but Katherine's punishment will be left to God?