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Tess
Day, Eden, and John’s mother is a kind and loving woman who does everything in her power to protect her family. She suffers from a chronic pain condition of some sort, which affects her ability to use her hands without immense pain. Mom loses some of her spark and hope after Dad dies and after Day supposedly fails his Trial and dies in a labor camp; she doesn’t know that he’s still alive. Ultimately, Mom is wholly unable to protect her children. Though she discovers that Day is still alive, mere minutes after reuniting with him, Thomas shoots and kills her on Commander Jameson’s order.
Mom Quotes in Legend
The Legend quotes below are all either spoken by Mom or refer to Mom. 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 13 Quotes
I pull out the sea daisies that I had tucked into my shirt’s sleeve. Some of the blossoms are crumpled now, but I prop them up as carefully as I can and gently pat down dirt around them. Mom will probably never see them here. But I know they’re here. The flowers are proof to myself that I’m still alive. Still watching over them.
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Chapter 22 Quotes
“I can see why Drake labeled you a troublemaker,” she says. “This isn’t college. You don’t question my actions.”
A part of me wants to apologize, but I’m too overwhelmed by what just happened, too angry or anxious or relieved. “What about our plan? Commander, with all due respect, we didn’t discuss killing civilians.”
Commander Jameson lets out a sharp laugh. “Oh, Iparis,” she replies. “We’d be here all night if we kept negotiating. See how much faster that was? Much more persuasive to our target.”
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Chapter 30 Quotes
The Thomas that follows Commander Jameson’s orders without question is a different Thomas from the one who worried about my safety in the Lake sector. Growing up, Thomas was awkward but always polite, especially to me. Or maybe it’s me who’s changed. When I tracked Day’s family down and watched Thomas shoot his mother, when I looked out as the crowd in the square was gunned down... I stood by both times and did nothing. Does that make me the same as Thomas? Are we doing the right thing by following our orders? Surely the Republic knows best?
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Chapter 31 Quotes
A bird on one side, a man’s profile on the other. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN GOD WE TRUST, QUARTER DOLLAR embossed on one side, and LIBERTY and 1990 on the other. “See? Evidence.” He pressed it into her palm.
[...]
“See the name? United States. It was real.”
My mother’s eyes gleamed with excitement, but she still gave Dad a grave look. “This is a dangerous thing to own,” she whispered. “We’re not keeping this in our house.”
My father nodded. “But we can’t destroy it. We have to safeguard it—for all we know, this might be the last coin of its kind in the world.” He folded my mother’s fingers over the coin. “I’ll make a metal casing for it, something that covers both sides. I’ll weld it shut so the coin’s secure inside.”
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Mom Character Timeline in Legend
The timeline below shows where the character Mom appears in Legend. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Day watches Mom, John, and Eden walk around inside the house and considers what might happen if one...
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Chapter 3
It’s been two days since soldiers marked Day’s mom’s door. With knives hidden in his boots and pig blood smeared all over him, Day...
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Chapter 5
Day dreams that he’s at home with John, Eden, and Mom—and Eden is drawing soldiers breaking into the house. He wakes up, startled, and finds himself...
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Chapter 13
...that Lake sector isn’t safe because of the plague. As they talk, Day notices sea daisies—Mom’s favorite flower.
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...and then the house. Through the bedroom vent, he can see and hear John and Mom discussing Eden’s illness. Eden looks very unwell: he’s green and sweaty. John leaves to make...
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Chapter 17
...family, trying to focus on his task and not on their kiss. He can tell Mom is up watching Eden, and John is in the kitchen. John meets Day out back...
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Chapter 21
...California, but then he bursts through his family’s back door and hurries to the bedroom. Mom is shocked, and Day says that he—Daniel—is alive. Taking her hands, he says they’re coming...
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John lifts feverish Eden, whose eyes are black—his irises are bleeding. Mom leads them and Day to the hiding spot under the porch. To protect his family,...
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Day hears a commotion inside, and then soldiers march Mom and John out. Medics wheel Eden out on a gurney. Using a homemade slingshot, Day...
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Chapter 22
...but all June can think is that Thomas murdered someone—and he’s smiling. The soldiers leave Mom’s body on the pavement. June wants to be happy that she caught Day, but she...
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Chapter 23
Day can’t remember much after he’s arrested. He keeps seeing Mom’s face in his head, just before she was shot—and he tells himself it wasn’t his...
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...die are extremely dangerous. He maintains that he didn’t kill Metias, but June did kill Mom.
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Leaning down close to Day, June apologizes about Mom. She refuses to tell Day where Tess is, and then she tells soldiers to move...
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Chapter 25
...sees that he looks awful, with one lock of hair matted with blood, and he’s momentarily glad Mom can’t see him now. A judge reads that Day was captured, and to...
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Chapter 27
Day dreams that he’s chasing Tess, trying to help her—but Tess transforms into Mom, who’s dead. He wakes up in the hospital lab, and he can tell they’re slicing...
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Chapter 29
...firing on protestors. He’s almost asleep on his feet when Thomas, the captain who shot Mom, appears and says that he’d like Day to identify Patriots from a series of photos....
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Thomas turns to leave, but Day heckles him. Thomas begins to beat Day after insulting Mom. He insists that he began life poor, like Day, but he’s not lazy like other...
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Chapter 31
...aren’t so different: her thoughts about Metias’s death are similar to how Day feels about Mom.
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Chapter 33
Day plans to try to escape tonight. He wishes June was around—without Mom, Eden, and John, Day has trouble being brave. Figuring that he has a chance if...
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Chapter 35
...crumpled paper, and John has just gotten a job at the steam plant. To celebrate, Mom sold some items and bought a chicken, which she’s cooking inside. Everything seems idyllic—until Day...
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