The eldest Radley son. He left the Radley Place as a young adult but returns to care for Arthur when old Mr. Radley dies. Like the rest of his family members, Nathan is reclusive and spends most of his time inside. Though he doesn’t act nefarious or mean, he does fill the hole in the oak tree—in which Arthur was leaving Scout and Jem treasures—with cement.
Nathan Radley Quotes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The To Kill a Mockingbird quotes below are all either spoken by Nathan Radley or refer to Nathan Radley. 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:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Warner Books edition of To Kill a Mockingbird published in 1960.
Chapter 5
Quotes
“There are just some kind of men who—who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.”
Related Characters:
Miss Maudie Atkinson (speaker), Jean Louise Finch (Scout), Mr. Radley, Nathan Radley
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire To Kill a Mockingbird LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nathan Radley Character Timeline in To Kill a Mockingbird
The timeline below shows where the character Nathan Radley appears in To Kill a Mockingbird. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...that he was mean, which surprised Jem and Scout—she never speaks ill of white people. Nathan Radley returned to the house to imprison his brother. All of this fascinates Dill.
(full context)
Chapter 4
...so he can mime stabbing Dill in the leg, and the children stand silent when Nathan Radley passes or when they catch neighbors watching. One day, they don’t notice Atticus watching....
(full context)
Chapter 6
...that they have to go, or it’ll look suspicious. Miss Maudie tells the children that Nathan Radley shot at a black man in his collard patch and Miss Stephanie notices that...
(full context)
...noting that Atticus will whip him but that this is better than getting shot by Nathan Radley. Jem mutters that he doesn’t remember the last time Atticus whipped him and wants...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...in the knothole, but they discover that someone filled it with cement. Later, Jem catches Nathan Radley and asks about the hole. He explains that the tree is dying, so he...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...coming and ask Atticus to come home. She runs to the Radley Place to warn Nathan and Boo, but they don’t open their door.
(full context)