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Travis
Trudie’s brother, Nomi’s uncle, and the strict priest who governs life within the Mennonite town of East Village. In his younger days The Mouth was as rebellious as his nieces, even leaving town in hopes of finding success as a poet. But, disillusioned by his failure to thrive outside his Mennonite community, he returns home, adopts a highly conservative outlook, and becomes a cleric. The Mouth is known for long and pompous sermons (it’s this tendency that inspires Nomi to refer to him by this irreverent nickname rather than his real name, which is Hans). His actions and decisions reflect the harshest aspects of Mennonite theology. He often dwells on sin and shame, and seems to take pleasure in punishing other people. The Mouth is determined to obey Mennonite dogma even when doing so has obvious negative consequences. For example, he excommunicates Trudie and Nomi knowing that he’s contributing to the breakup of the Nickel family. In this sense he’s an important foil to characters like Ray and Trudie, whose more positive conception of Christian faith inspires them to love, value, and advocate for family members, even when doing so involves defying the church.
The Mouth Quotes in A Complicated Kindness
The A Complicated Kindness quotes below are all either spoken by The Mouth or refer to The Mouth. 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:
).
Chapter Twenty-One
Quotes
Ask her to forgive you, Trudie said. You’ve scared the shit out of her, Hans. Tell her you’re sorry. Tell her! Tell her it’s not true. Tell her they are stories. You know nothing about love, nothing. You know nothing about anything at all and I hate you so much.
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Chapter Twenty-Two
Quotes
I turned the paper over and studied a chart titled “Satan Cast Down.” There were different categories linked together with arrows and verses. Rapture, saved dead, unsaved dead, millennium, bottomless pit, lake of fire, beast and false prophet, new heaven, new earth. I tried to follow the complicated system of arrows and timelines.
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Chapter Twenty-Four
Quotes
And we counted cars with American plates—twenty-seven. On their way to watch The Mouth read Revelations by candlelight in the fake church while the people of the real town sat in a field of dirt cheering on collisions.
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The Mouth Quotes in A Complicated Kindness
The A Complicated Kindness quotes below are all either spoken by The Mouth or refer to The Mouth. 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:
).
Chapter Twenty-One
Quotes
Ask her to forgive you, Trudie said. You’ve scared the shit out of her, Hans. Tell her you’re sorry. Tell her! Tell her it’s not true. Tell her they are stories. You know nothing about love, nothing. You know nothing about anything at all and I hate you so much.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-Two
Quotes
I turned the paper over and studied a chart titled “Satan Cast Down.” There were different categories linked together with arrows and verses. Rapture, saved dead, unsaved dead, millennium, bottomless pit, lake of fire, beast and false prophet, new heaven, new earth. I tried to follow the complicated system of arrows and timelines.
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Chapter Twenty-Four
Quotes
And we counted cars with American plates—twenty-seven. On their way to watch The Mouth read Revelations by candlelight in the fake church while the people of the real town sat in a field of dirt cheering on collisions.
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