Max Ames
Quotes
1. “So speaking, she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from
her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves… The stigma gone,
Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish
departed from her spirit.”
2. “He was the one that finally picked up that boy that jumped out the window I told
you about, James Castle. Old Mr. Antolini felt his pulse and all, and then he took off
his coat and put it over James Castle and carried him all the way over to the
infirmary.”
3. “Do you remember me telling you how the faces of the men I killed came back and
changed to Father’s face and finally became my own? …He looks like me, too!
Maybe I’ve committed suicide!”
4. “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property – that’s law! And there is
none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his
neighbors for their land!”
5. “Silence has many advantages. When you do not speak, other people presume you to
be deaf or feeble-minded and promptly make a show of their own limitations”
6. “…if you want me to provide some money, some assistance for you and the children
in your exile, just ask. I’m prepared to give you some, and with a generous hand.”
7. “Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the
sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is.”
8. “What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong
which I condemn.”
9. “All men plume themselves on the improvement of society, and no man improves.”
10. “And breath’d himself: then from the closet crept, Noiseless as fear in a wide
wilderness, And over the hush’d carpet, silent, stept, And ‘tween the curtains
peep’d, where, lo! – how fast she slep.”
Max Ames
Quote Explanations
1. This is Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter taking the red “A” off of her chest. For
the first time since the punishment began Hester feels free of her burden. She is
sitting with Dimmesdale in the forest when this happens.
2. This is Holden Caulfied from The Catcher in the Rye talking about how Mr. Antolini
was the only one to approach the body of a boy that jumped from a few stories up and
died. This is one of the reasons that Holden likes Mr. Antolini.
3. This is Orin talking to Lavinia in Mourning Becomes Elektra after killing Adam
Brant and his mustache. He brings up all the people he’s killed and how they, just like
Brant, had his face. He thinks he may have killed himself.
4. This is in the Crucible, when Mr. Putnam is accused of perpetuating the witchcraft
hysteria for his own personal gain because he profits from people’s land being sold.
5. This is Adah from The Poisonwood Bible. She is explaining that some people do not
think she is very quiet, but by being quiet she exposes less flaws and is better able to
evaluate people without allowing them to see her own limitations.
6. This is Jason from Medea telling Medea he is trying to do what is best for his sons
and that he will give her money if she needs it. He is really trying to help his family
out.
7. This is Thoreau in Walden speaking of how one must be mindful of time but not have
their life limited by it. People need to live in the present, knowing that death is
unavoidable.
8. This is Thoreau in Civil Disobedience speaking of how if he deems a law immoral,
then it is his responsibility to break it and do what he regard as the moral thing to do.
9. This is Emerson in Self Reliance speaking about how society always improves;
whether it’s technological or political, mankind always advances. However,
individuals have not advanced overtime. Individuals will always have flaws such as
greed because such things are human nature.
10. This is Porphyro creeping out of the closet after Madeline falls asleep in St. Agnes
Eve. He stands hiding behind a curtain and watches Madeline as she sleeps.