How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #7
It was all right to exercise one's mind with gymnastic fantasies, but when the lively child mind settled on one pattern... ? (72)
According to George (and David McClean), the problem is not just that the kids have this fantasy, but that it's the same fantasy. Over and over and over again. That's funny to us because all we hear today is how kids can't concentrate, which seems like the opposite problem to the one Bradbury is talking about. And also… oh, shiny.
Quote #8
He knew the principle of the room exactly. You sent out your thoughts. Whatever you thought would appear. (76)
Of course this quote turns out to be wrong since George can't get the room to work for him. And that's too bad because it means we don't get to see what George and Lydia are really thinking. (Do you think they're thinking the same things?) Maybe this room would help George figure out his dissatisfaction, if it were working correctly. But frankly, we worry that George and Lydia might get divorced if they saw what the other was really thinking.
Quote #9
"My dear George, a psychologist never saw a fact in his life. He only hears about feelings; vague things." (193)
Even though the nursery is just supposed to be make-believe, what's real in this story is how people feel: parents are dissatisfied, kids are murderously angry. (See our theme of "Dissatisfaction." And oh, how we wish we had "murderously angry" as a theme here.) In other words, feelings are serious, whether or not we have virtual lions to act on them for us.