How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He strode to the prosecution table and lifted a worn brown Bible. He opened it to a page he seemed to know by heart and began to read aloud. (3.17)
Like all lawyers in the book, Carter Ames knows the value of quoting from Bible to win a case. Here he makes sure to drive the point home to the jurors that what he's saying is in the Bible, so it must be right. His assumption that his jurors care about what the Bible teaches shows how important religion is in this town.
Quote #2
As a boy I'd walked past those churches a thousand times. I'd heard the clapping and the fervent amens. Now that had all gotten blended in with a fast-march tempo and the syncopated melody of the old work songs. Mix it all together, speed it up, and somehow, from that corner of the South, down around where Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas meet up, the music came out ragtime. (7.10)
As Ben thinks about what religion meant as a kid, he comes up with this mental picture of church. It's full of happy songs and loud choruses. Religion means something a lot different to him now, but it's interesting to see how exactly this has changed.
Quote #3
"These are papers I've been collecting on the situation: reports of the most horrible occurrences, some police records. Things it's hard for a Christian man to credit. Especially since the perpetrators of these crimes are men who claim to be Christians." (13.12)
President Roosevelt is shocked that Christian men could hang people for no reason. Perhaps that's because the Bible teaches not to kill people. Yet his outrage also shows the hypocrisy in society: even though some men claim to follow the Bible, they are as racist and violent as they come.