How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I had the bone-handle carving knife in my hand. Not for her—I don't know, just in case of something. When she run at me, I turned. She run straight up on that knife, sir. I swear I never meant to do it." (6.27)
Gracie tells Ben that she did actually kill her boss. Oops. This is a big moment for Ben, who worries about racial bias in the court system, only to find that his client lied to him. He feels betrayed when he learns she actually did the murder in the first place.
Quote #2
I know that my decision may strike you as a terrible mistake on my part. Yet I believe it is the only correct solution to our dilemma. We must be honest with each other and ourselves. I think it best if you do not come home at this time. I will be in touch with you by post or wire, as I begin the steps necessary to bring about a most painful but inevitable result. (44.16)
What could be more of a betrayal than when Ben's own wife ditches him? The letter from Meg wounds Ben deeply, not because he isn't anticipating it (because let's face it, he is), but because he doesn't want this news from his wife. He expects Meg to be by his side forever.
Quote #3
But inside, I felt another, more disturbing pain. I had been beaten and left for dead. I had disappeared from the world, and hardly anyone had come looking for me. I mattered to virtually no one. Meg. Elizabeth. My father. My daughters. Jacob, my childhood best friend. The entire town of Eudora. I had mostly been forgotten. (71.4)
Poor Ben. After his lynching, Ben is physically hurt of course, but his emotional wounds can't be stitched up. He feels that no one cares about him anymore, plus he feels betrayed by his friends and family in Eudora. They aren't there for him in the way that he wants them to be.