“Folks in this town who think they’re doing right, I mean. Now far be it from me to say who, but some of ’em in this town thought they were doing the right thing a while back, but all they did was stir ’em up. That’s all they did. Might’ve looked like the right thing to do at the time, I’m sure I don’t know.”
– Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 24. Mrs. Merriweather indirectly criticizes Atticus here for his decision to defend black man Tom Robinson and insist that he have a fair trial in a southern town that doesn’t believe in equal rights for black people. A devout Methodist who leads the local mission group, Mrs. Merriweather is in reality an intolerent, judgemental and nasty woman.