Quote 7
"We have a system of checks and balances and things, but when it comes down to it we don't have much check on the Court, so who'll bell the cat?" (17.39)
This is Jean Louise talking. She believes they've set up something dangerous. In other words, the first domino in a chain of events that will end the legacy of the South.
Quote 8
"Cal, Cal, Cal, what are you doing to me? What's the matter? I'm your baby, have you forgotten me? Why are you shutting me out? What are you doing to me?" (12.189)
Okay, let's get this straight. Jean Louise, a young white woman, is putting herself first, before Calpurnia's biological son, a young black man, by asking her what she's doing to her?We understand that Jean Louise is upset at "losing" her mother figure, but is this the time to be having her existential crisis? When Calpurnia's son is facing severe legal consequences? What do you think?
Quote 9
"I don't know anything about that bunch except that some misguided clerk sent me some NAACP Christmas seals last year, so I stuck 'em on all the cards I sent home." (2.94)
At first you might applaud Jean Louise's progressive politics here, until you learn that she actually despises the NAACP. She doesn't put those seals on her letters to make a progressive statement about race. She does it to be annoying. To her, making a joke is more important than having respect for another race.