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Jack Turner
Elwood’s grandmother is a kind and principled older woman who has served as Elwood’s primary caretaker ever since his parents (her daughter and son-in-law) left Florida in the middle of the night to live in California. Harriet works at the Richmond Hotel, where she cleans rooms while Elwood passes his time in the kitchen. A strict guardian, Harriet forbids Elwood from spending time with children she believes are not well behaved. When Elwood tells her that he wants to work at Mr. Marconi’s cigar store, she has no problem with the idea, especially since he gives her half of his paycheck every week. What’s more, she’s delighted to learn that he wants to save the other half of his paychecks so that he can go to college, something that makes her immensely proud. Accordingly, she’s quite excited when she learns that Mr. Hill has helped Elwood gain admission to Melvin Griggs Technical College. Unfortunately, though, she’s unable to do anything when Elwood is wrongly convicted of stealing a car and sent to Nickel Academy. And though her love and support sustains him on an emotional level even while he’s a student at Nickel, she finds it nearly impossible to help him, since a lawyer who promises to free him ends up taking all of Harriet’s money and leaving town. Harriet slowly succumbs to illness while Elwood is at Nickel and eventually dies one year after he is shot and killed.
Harriet (Elwood’s Grandmother) Quotes in The Nickel Boys
The The Nickel Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Harriet (Elwood’s Grandmother) or refer to Harriet (Elwood’s Grandmother). 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 Two
Quotes
The morning after the decision, the sun rose and everything looked the same. Elwood asked his grandmother when Negroes were going to start staying at the Richmond, and she said it’s one thing to tell someone to do what’s right and another thing for them to do it. She listed some of his behavior as proof and Elwood nodded: Maybe so. Sooner or later, though, the door would swing wide to reveal a brown face—a dapper businessman in Tallahassee for business or a fancy lady in town to see the sights—enjoying the fine-smelling fare the cooks put out. He was sure of it.
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Chapter Seven
Quotes
“It’s not like the old days,” Elwood said. “We can stand up for ourselves.”
“That shit barely works out there—what do you think it’s going to do in here?”
“You say that because there’s no one else out there sticking up for you.”
“That’s true,” Turner said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t see how it works. Maybe I see things more clearly because of it. […] The key to in here is the same as surviving out there—you got to see how people act, and then you got to figure out how to get around them like an obstacle course. If you want to walk out of here.”
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Get the entire The Nickel Boys LitChart as a printable PDF.
Harriet (Elwood’s Grandmother) Quotes in The Nickel Boys
The The Nickel Boys quotes below are all either spoken by Harriet (Elwood’s Grandmother) or refer to Harriet (Elwood’s Grandmother). 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 Two
Quotes
The morning after the decision, the sun rose and everything looked the same. Elwood asked his grandmother when Negroes were going to start staying at the Richmond, and she said it’s one thing to tell someone to do what’s right and another thing for them to do it. She listed some of his behavior as proof and Elwood nodded: Maybe so. Sooner or later, though, the door would swing wide to reveal a brown face—a dapper businessman in Tallahassee for business or a fancy lady in town to see the sights—enjoying the fine-smelling fare the cooks put out. He was sure of it.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Seven
Quotes
“It’s not like the old days,” Elwood said. “We can stand up for ourselves.”
“That shit barely works out there—what do you think it’s going to do in here?”
“You say that because there’s no one else out there sticking up for you.”
“That’s true,” Turner said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t see how it works. Maybe I see things more clearly because of it. […] The key to in here is the same as surviving out there—you got to see how people act, and then you got to figure out how to get around them like an obstacle course. If you want to walk out of here.”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
