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Uncle Jack
The sole owner, writer, and editor of the Maycomb Tribune. According to Atticus, Mr. Underwood is an intense and profane man. He seldom leaves his home above the Tribune to report on any goings-on; people bring him the news instead. Though he’s racist and is one of the men who convenes at the Finches’ home in the days before Tom Robinson’s trial to speak to Atticus, he also stands up for what’s right and is ready to protect Atticus from a mob that gathers at the jailhouse. Following the jury’s guilty verdict and Robinson’s death at the hands of prison guards, Mr. Underwood takes a stand and insists that it’s unconscionable to kill a disabled person, invoking Atticus’s own adage that killing a mockingbird is a sin.
Mr. Underwood Quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The To Kill a Mockingbird quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Underwood or refer to Mr. Underwood. 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 25 Quotes
Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.
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As Scout reads Mr. Underwood's editorial, which compares Tom Robinson to a mockingbird, she thinks about how prejudiced and wrong the blasé attitude of the rest of Maycomb is. Maycomb residents think Mr. Underwood is just trying to be “poetic,” but here Scout summarizes what she really believes to be the lesson of the piece: Atticus's battle against prejudice had lost, not because he wasn't a good enough lawyer, and not because he didn't provide sufficient evidence to make the case for Tom's innocence, but because prejudice was so ingrained in the hearts of Maycomb people that they would never 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.
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Mr. Underwood Character Timeline in To Kill a Mockingbird
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Underwood appears in To Kill a Mockingbird. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 15
The next day, Sunday, Atticus spends time in the yard talking with more men, including Mr. Underwood , the owner of the Maycomb Tribune who never leaves his linotype. Atticus shares with...
(full context)
...office in the Maycomb Bank building, but he’s not there. They wonder if he’s visiting Mr. Underwood , who lives a few storefronts down on the other side of the jail. The...
(full context)
...if the men left. Atticus assures him that the men won’t bother him now, and Mr. Underwood interjects that he was keeping watch from his upstairs window. He waves his shotgun. Atticus...
(full context)
Chapter 16
...next morning, Aunt Alexandra insists that children who sneak out are disgraces. Atticus notes that Mr. Underwood is a known racist; he’s surprised that Mr. Underwood was protecting him. Calpurnia serves Aunt...
(full context)
Chapter 18
Judge Taylor calls for a 10-minute break. Mr. Underwood snorts when he sees Scout, Jem, and Dill in the balcony. Scout knows that there...
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Chapter 21
...Atticus a note. Atticus asks Judge Taylor to go, since his children are missing, but Mr. Underwood interjects that Scout, Jem, and Dill are in the balcony. The children head downstairs and...
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Chapter 25
Following Tom’s death, Mr. Underwood wrote a bitter article about how it’s a sin to kill disabled people. He likened...
(full context)
