Jem: Atticus says cheating a black man is ten times worse than cheating a white.


--Phillip Alford (as Jem) in To Kill a Mockingbird

Jem: There goes the meanest man that ever took a breath of life.
Dill Harris: Why is he the meanest man?
Jem: Well, for one thing, he has a boy named Boo that he keeps chained to a bed in the house over yonder. Boo only comes out at night when you're asleep and it's pitch-dark. When you wake up at night, you can hear him. Once I heard him scratchin' on our screen door, but he was gone by the time Atticus got there.
Dill Harris: I wonder what he does in there? I wonder what he looks like?
Jem: Well, judgin' from his tracks, he's about six and a half feet tall. He eats raw squirrels and all the cats he can catch. There's a long, jagged scar that runs all the way across his face. His teeth are yella and rotten. His eyes are popped. And he drools most of the time.


--Phillip Alford (as Jem) in To Kill a Mockingbird

[Atticus on the porch overhearing their conversation]
Scout: How old was I when Mama died?
Jem: Two.
Scout: How old were you?
Jem: Six.
Scout: Old as I am now?
Jem: Uh-huh.
Scout: ...Was Mama pretty?
Jem: Uh-huh.
Scout: Was Mama nice?
Jem: Uh-huh.
Scout: Did you love her?
Jem: Yes.
Scout: Did I love her?
Jem: Yes.
Scout: Do you miss her?
Jem: Uh-huh.


--Phillip Alford (as Jem) in To Kill a Mockingbird

[to Dill about Miss Dubose]
Jem: Listen, no matter what she says to you, don't answer her back. There's a Confederate pistol in her lap under her shawl and she'll kill you quick as look at you. Come on.


--Phillip Alford (as Jem) in To Kill a Mockingbird