How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I was standing in the middle of the kitchen, looking at my family, each one of them close enough to touch, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would burst.
There were more chores to do. The wood box next to the stove was nearly empty. There were ashes to dump down the outhouse and Abby could have used my help with the darning, but I felt as if the very walls themselves were pressing in upon me. As if I would go crazy if I stayed in this prison of a kitchen for one second longer. (23.dehiscence.1-2)
This scene is so visually jarring. The house looks tidy and everyone is industriously working in harmony, but Mattie feels totally trapped. What is it about a family that can both be so well run yet so confining at the same time?
Quote #5
He lifted my bag down, walked me to the kitchen door, and peered inside. I waited for him to hand me the carpetbag, but he didn't. He held it hard against him. "Well, you going in or not?" he asked me.
"I need my bag, Pa."
As he handed it to me, I saw he'd gripped it so tightly his knuckles had turned white. We were not the kissing kind, me and Pa, but I wished that maybe he would at least hug me good-bye. (29.icosahedron.23-25)
Like many families, Mattie and her Pa have difficulty communicating. That's okay, though, because their emotions are pretty clear here: Pa wants to protect Mattie from the world and is having a hard time letting her go. (Um, the carpetbag is a pretty clear symbol for Mattie here.)
Quote #6
"I went over early to see if Lou wanted to go fishing, and I knocked and knocked but no one came. The cows were bellowing, so I went in the barn. Daisy's real bad. She ain't been milked. Ain't none of them have. I didn't know what to do, Matt. I went inside the house ... They're all real bad. I found Lou in the grass by the outhouse, I got her inside, but—"
I didn't hear anything else for I was already running. Down the back steps to the Glenmore's drive and out to the Big Moose Road. (35.aby.15-16)
Even though Mattie feels that her future is slowly drawing her away from Eagle Bay and her family, when her family falls horribly ill, she goes immediately. It's in times of trouble that we realize how important family ties are.