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Drill
Mr. Morris is Mrs. Morris’s husband and Mink’s father. He appears to be the typical middle-class white-collar business man living in a cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood. As a logical adult, Mr. Morris thinks his wife has gone crazy when she starts babbling about an alien Invasion. It’s not until Mr. Morris has tangible signs of the invasion—the sound of heavy footsteps belonging to at least fifty people crowded in his house, a strange blue light behind the attic door, an odd smell, and a foreign sound in his daughter’s voice—that Mr. Morris finally accepts the Invasion as reality.
Mr. Henry Morris Quotes in Zero Hour
The Zero Hour quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Henry Morris or refer to Mr. Henry Morris. 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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“Zero Hour” Quotes
“We’re having trouble with guys like Pete Britz and Dale Jerrick. They’re growing up. They make fun. They’re worse than parents. They just won’t believe in Drill. They’re so snooty, ‘cause they’re growing up. You’d think they’d know better. They were little only a coupla years ago. I hate them worse. We’ll kill them first.”
“Your father and I last?”
“Drill says you’re dangerous. Know why? ‘Cause you don’t believe in Martians! They’re going to let us run the world. Well, not just us, but the kids over in the next block, too. I might be queen.”
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Mink is having lunch with her mother and explaining how the Invasion game is going. She voices her frustration with the older kids in the neighborhood (who are just slightly older than her, since they “were little only a coupla years ago”) and specifically complains about the way they make fun of her and the other younger children. Once again, Mink is incredibly sensitive to being made fun of and hates when she’s not taken seriously by someone she considers a “grownup” (even if that so-called grownup is about twelve years old). She strengthens the divide between the younger kids 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 aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui
She was babbling wild stuff now. It came out of her. All the subconscious suspicion and fear that had gathered secretly all afternoon and fermented like a wine in her. All the little revelations and knowledges and sense that had bothered her all day and which she had logically and carefully and sensibly rejected and censored. Now it exploded in her and shook her to bits.
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In this passage, Mrs. Morris and a very confused and irritated Mr. Morris hide in the attic from the Invasion, which has just begun. Unlike her husband, Mrs. Morris suddenly realizes that the Invasion is terrifyingly real, which challenges what her logical adult mind considers to be in the realm of possibility. This passage exposes that she was actually harboring “subconscious suspicion and fear” throughout the afternoon but wasn’t fully aware of it. Even the reader wasn’t privy to this information, emphasizing just how well Mrs. Morris was hiding those realizations from herself on the basis of them not being 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 aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa.
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Mr. Henry Morris Character Timeline in Zero Hour
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Henry Morris appears in Zero Hour. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
“Zero Hour”
...and that “We’ll kill them first.” Mrs. Morris jokingly asks if she and her husband, Henry, will be killed last. Mink answers that according to Drill, all parents are “dangerous” because...
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...into the driveway, and Mr. Morris gets out, waving hello to Mink. Mink ignores her father and continues to prepare for the Invasion with the other kids. When he goes inside,...
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A low buzzing noise begins to sound, and Mrs. Morris’ eyes widen. Nervously, she asks Henry if the kids were playing with electricity or anything else dangerous, but Henry says no....
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Suddenly, an explosion shakes the house, and Mrs. Morris screams. She and Henry hear several explosions go off in other people’s yards. Frantically, Mrs. Morris screams for her...
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...suspicions she had “logically and carefully and sensibly rejected and censored.” Wildly, Mrs. Morris tells Mr. Morris that they should be safe until nightfall, but then they should try to sneak out.
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Henry yells that his wife has gone crazy, but upon hearing Mink’s voice downstairs, Mrs. Morris...
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...house is filled with the sound of footsteps coming from at least fifty people, and Henry angrily shouts about who is “tramping around” in his house. Through the sounds of the...
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Mink calls out for her mother and father again, and the lock on the attic door melts. The door opens, revealing Mink, flanked...
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