Atticus said he didn't see how anything else could happen, that things had a way of settling down, and after enough time had passed people would forget that Tom Robinson's existence was ever brought to their attention.

So many things had happened to us, Boo Radley was the least of our fears. Atticus said he didn’t see how anything else could happen, that things had a way of settling down, and after enough time had passed people would forget that Tom Robinson’s existence was ever brought to their attention.

– Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 26. Scout feels older and wiser after the Tom Robinson trial and the discrimination he faced, and is remorseful about the way she treated Boo Radley. The quote also foreshadows Boo Radley’s eventual reappearance and the night Scout and Jem are attacked by Bob Ewell.

Harper Lee Quotes