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Travis
Trudie’s brother, Nomi’s uncle, and the strict priest who governs life within the Mennonite town of East Village. In his younger days The Mouth was as rebellious as his nieces, even leaving town in hopes of finding success as a poet. But, disillusioned by his failure to thrive outside his Mennonite community, he returns home, adopts a highly conservative outlook, and becomes a cleric. The Mouth is known for long and pompous sermons (it’s this tendency that inspires Nomi to refer to him by this irreverent nickname rather than his real name, which is Hans). His actions and decisions reflect the harshest aspects of Mennonite theology. He often dwells on sin and shame, and seems to take pleasure in punishing other people. The Mouth is determined to obey Mennonite dogma even when doing so has obvious negative consequences. For example, he excommunicates Trudie and Nomi knowing that he’s contributing to the breakup of the Nickel family. In this sense he’s an important foil to characters like Ray and Trudie, whose more positive conception of Christian faith inspires them to love, value, and advocate for family members, even when doing so involves defying the church.
The Mouth Quotes in A Complicated Kindness
The A Complicated Kindness quotes below are all either spoken by The Mouth or refer to The Mouth. 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:
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Chapter Twenty-One Quotes
Ask her to forgive you, Trudie said. You’ve scared the shit out of her, Hans. Tell her you’re sorry. Tell her! Tell her it’s not true. Tell her they are stories. You know nothing about love, nothing. You know nothing about anything at all and I hate you so much.
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In the weeks after Tash’s disappearance, Nomi begins to have terrible nightmares in which her older sister is condemned to hell for her sins. Fed up after many sleepless nights, Trudie drags Nomi to The Mouth’s house and demands that, as a church leader, he assure Nomi that Tash’s future in the afterlife is safe. Her desperation and desire for the wellbeing of both her daughters contrasts with The Mouth’s rigid adherence to religious dogma—in the end, he refuses his sister’s request. This passage thus argues that prioritizing religious rules above all else inevitably takes a toll on human relationships. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui au
Chapter Twenty-Two Quotes
I turned the paper over and studied a chart titled “Satan Cast Down.” There were different categories linked together with arrows and verses. Rapture, saved dead, unsaved dead, millennium, bottomless pit, lake of fire, beast and false prophet, new heaven, new earth. I tried to follow the complicated system of arrows and timelines.
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One morning in her kitchen, Nomi stumbles across a religious chart Ray has brought home from church. The chart explains the biblical story of Satan’s fall through a complex system of “arrows and verses.” The Bible is a complex and beautiful narrative; Nomi, who will later be moved by the verses Ray cites in a letter to her, certainly recognizes that. But in order to “prove” God’s power and the Devil’s destruction, The Mouth has reduced this narrative to a handful of buzzwords and symbols, making it not only unintelligible but laughable. Nomi thus uses this moment to critique powerful Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commo
Chapter Twenty-Four Quotes
And we counted cars with American plates—twenty-seven. On their way to watch The Mouth read Revelations by candlelight in the fake church while the people of the real town sat in a field of dirt cheering on collisions.
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In a rare spontaneous gesture, Ray has taken Nomi to a demolition derby in a nearby town, and father and daughter watch as cars wreck each other in the dirt. The image Nomi paints of Ray watching the spectacle in his suit and tie embodies the tension between past and present that characterizes Mennonite communities. The Mouth considers this reality shameful; by performing for tourists in the “fake church” and ignoring the real desires of his congregants, he attempts to suppress and ignore it. However, just as Nomi finds beauty in the peripheral wastelands of her town, she derives more Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volupta
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The Mouth Character Timeline in A Complicated Kindness
The timeline below shows where the character The Mouth appears in A Complicated Kindness. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter One
...go to hell. Expectations are especially high for Trudie because her brother, whom Nomi nicknames The Mouth , is the town minister; but she often neglected to help out, and once threw...
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Chapter Two
...prohibited in the community, in the basement. One time Tash and her friends prank call The Mouth and pretend to be worried about the “temptation” of the secular music; a child at...
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Chapter Three
...Just a few weeks ago, Nomi heard her father respond to a everyday greeting from The Mouth by saying that he’s “living quietly with [his] disappointments.”
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Chapter Seven
Nomi says that the town minister, The Mouth , is obsessed with shame and “traffics the shit like a schoolground pusher.” Even in...
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Once, while walking back from Travis’s house at night, Nomi passes The Mouth ’s house and watches him eat a pint of ice cream in the kitchen in...
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Nomi remembers standing in The Mouth ’s office, reciting Bible verses. She always gets in trouble for saying “In the beginning...
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Chapter Nine
After Trudie and Tash leave the family, The Mouth comes over to pray with Ray and Nomi. He tells them bracingly that they can’t...
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Chapter Ten
On the way to the hill, Nomi passes The Mouth and his wife, whom she has privately nicknamed Aunt Gonad. The Mouth greets Nomi in...
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Chapter Eleven
Nomi remembers one day when The Mouth comes over and asks to speak to Trudie privately. From the window, Tash and Nomi...
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Chapter Thirteen
...and Trudie listening to music while taking care of the children during church. As punishment, The Mouth made Trudie take all the young girls to sing hymns at a Mennonite nursing home....
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Chapter Fourteen
...simply be painful memories later on. Tash started staying out very late with Ian, and The Mouth often visited for dinner. Nomi wanted to laugh at his hairless legs with Tash, but...
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Chapter Fifteen
...1970s when, like many other Mennonite teenagers, Tash started rebelling against their way of life. The Mouth and Aunt Gonad frequently warned her not to pay so much attention to her physical...
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More and more, Trudie had to defend Tash against criticism from The Mouth . When Tash skipped a dinner at their grandmother’s house, The Mouth wouldn’t even let...
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Chapter Sixteen
...her father knows that she’s getting on the Pill; bluffing, she says that he does. The Mouth regularly criticizes this doctor in church because he provides the women with birth control if...
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Chapter Nineteen
...tell her the birthdays of everyone he knows. Then she walks by the church, where The Mouth has posted a fearsome Bible quote saying that God’s true followers “shall go forth, and...
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Chapter Twenty
The Mouth often came to Nomi’s house to pray with her parents. Both he and Nomi were...
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Chapter Twenty-One
After Tash’s departure, Trudie became so frustrated with Nomi’s nightmares that she drove Nomi to The Mouth ’s house in the middle of the night and demanded that he apologize to Nomi...
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Nomi recalls that Trudie started behaving really strangely after their nighttime encounter with The Mouth . She wandered the town at night and stopped speaking almost entirely. One afternoon, Nomi...
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...church has a new sign that says, “You think it’s hot here…God.” Nomi thinks that The Mouth must be insane to make threats in God’s name. Thinking of all the beautiful and...
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Chapter Twenty-Two
...have to live with us.” Tash said that their grandmother was going insane because of The Mouth . Nomi often kept Tash company outside the apartment, and Tash gave her dimes for...
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...the schoolhouse blackboard. One day he writes “OBEY” on the blackboard as a joke, but The Mouth approves of it. Sometimes he pretends to be married to a girl named Adeline, who...
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Chapter Twenty-Three
Nomi reveals that Trudie left home because she was excommunicated from the community by The Mouth . Nomi doesn’t even know how she feels about this. She remembers Trudie sitting by...
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Chapter Twenty-Four
...suit and tie. They see lots of American cars driving toward East Village to watch The Mouth pretend to be a pioneer, “while the people of the real town sat in a...
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Chapter Twenty-Six
...day, Nomi asks Ray if Trudie really acted in musicals. Ray nods and says that The Mouth took her to audition; he was a different person back then. Nomi asks what score...
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Chapter Twenty-Seven
That day, The Mouth comes over to Nomi’s house. He announces that the church has decided to excommunicate Nomi...
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After The Mouth leaves, Ray starts to quote the Bible, saying that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy...
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Chapter Twenty-Eight
...everything in her life clearly, from the pits to Travis’s hands playing the guitar to The Mouth and her “windowless school.” Now that she knows she won’t encounter any of this anymore,...
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...for her, this letter is angry and harsh. In it, Mr. Quiring threatens to tell The Mouth that Trudie has been using Mrs. Klippenstein’s empty house to have adulterous relationships with several...
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The Mouth has suggested that Trudie killed herself after leaving town, “out of guilt and regret.” Nomi...
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