How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I'm having trouble keeping up. And there's a part of me that doesn't want to keep trying: why can't he just say what he's feeling like everyone else? He doesn't have a trache tube in his mouth anymore that keeps him from talking. His jaw's not wired shut. He's ten years old. He can use his words. But we circle around him like he's still the baby he used to be. [… ] That was fine when he was little. But he needs to grow up now. We need to let him, help him, make him grow up. Here's what I think: we've all spent so much time trying to make August think he's normal that he actually thinks he is normal. And the problem is, he's not. (2.August Through the Peephole.5)
Uh-oh—sounds like Via's over it. Big sis wants Auggie to hurry up and grow up. Or wait—maybe she just wants him to be more normal. Can he be more normal if he's "not normal" to start with? Will growing up make him more normal? It's all so confusing.
If we could, we would assure Via that Auggie is, without exception, doing his level best to be more grown up and more "normal" every single day he survives another day at school.
Quote #5
"Were people nice to you?"
"Yes."
"No one was mean?"
He put the PlayStation down and looked up at me as if I had just asked the dumbest question in the world. "Why would people be mean?" he said. It was the first time in his life that I heard him be sarcastic like that. I didn't think he had it in him. (2.After School.27-30)
Razor-sharp, knee-jerk sarcasm: incontrovertible proof of adolescence. Auggie's sarcasm shows a level of understanding about the world that younger kids just don't have. For better or for worse, he's definitely figuring out human nature.
Quote #6
The point is we all have to put up with the bad days. Now, unless you want to be treated like a baby the rest of your life, or like a kid with special needs, you just have to suck it up and go."
He didn't say anything, but I think that last bit was getting to him. (2.Time to Think.18-19)
Suck it up, put on the big boy pants, get back in the ring, yeah, yeah, yeah. When August balks, big sister Via pushes him forward. She loves Auggie and knows that he really does love being in school, and her age and experience enable her to see beyond the pain of the moment (whereas Auggie can't yet).