Death Quotes in The Art of Racing in the Rain

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

When Denny was away and Eve fed me and she leaned down to give me my bowl of food and my nose was near her head, I had detected a bad odor, like rotting wood, mushrooms, decay. Wet, soggy, decay. It came from her ears and her sinuses. There was something inside Eve's head that didn't belong. (7.24)

This is some clear-cut foreshadowing, right? Usually, "decay" isn't a word that comes up naturally when describing someone's odor. Unless this smell is just a new perfume Eve bought that Enzo really hates? Yeah, probably not.

Quote #2

But, as with all things, there were repercussions: since that time, my nightmares have always contained angry crows. A murder of them. (13.15-16)

As an omen, the fact that Enzo brings up crows right after talking about Eve's worsening conditioning also seems like some pretty obvious foreshadowing to us. We also wonder whether it's a coincidence that angry crows and ravens, omens of death, are specifically mentioned in Chapter 13? Not that we're superstitious, or anything.

Quote #3

[Zoë] unfolded a dishcloth that she'd brought from the house. In the dishcloth were scissors, a Sharpie pen, and masking tape. She pulled off the doll's head. She took the kitchen scissors and cut off Barbie's hair, down to the plastic nub. She then drew a line on the doll's skull, all the while whispering softy, "Everything's going to be okay."

When she was done, she tore off a piece of masking tape and put in on the doll's head. She pressed the head back onto the neck stub and laid the doll down. We both stared at it. A moment of silence.

"Now she can go to heaven," Zoë said to me. "And I'll live with Grandma and Grandpa." (21.5-7)

As far as grappling with the illness of a parent goes, maybe this isn't the healthiest way to do it. But it does allow us a peek into Zoë's mindset and see how her grandparents seem to be teaching her to start accepting and even coping with her mother's death.