How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Some nights I saw the head of a man [in the moon]. He had a medium beard and wore a sailor's hat. Other times I saw a man with an ax chopping wood, and sometimes a woman cradling a baby at her breast. Whenever I get a chance to observe the moon now, I still see those same images I saw when I was six, and it pleases me to know that that part of my childhood is still embedded in me. (1.44)
One of the things that always comforts Ishmael are memories of his childhood. Here, he thinks about seeing images and stories in the moon. When he can remember these things from long ago, he knows his innocence hasn't been totally stomped out of him. He seems to like the person he is when he thinks about the moon.
Quote #2
Our innocence had been replaced by fear and we had become monsters. There was nothing we could do about it. Sometimes we ran after people shouting that we were not what they thought, but this made them more scared. We hoped to ask people for directions. It was impossible. (8.20)
Ismael and his six friends might just be a group of pre-teen boys, but people see them as a threat. They can't understand why people are afraid of them. There are no more innocent little kids in this war. There's only danger.
Quote #3
"Are you still a troublesome boy?" He pulled on my nose.
"There is no time to be troublesome these days," I said.
"I see that you look very sad. Your forehead used to glow naturally when you were just a child. Your parents and I used to discuss how unusual that was. We thought it was because you were happy all the time.
Your mother said you even smiled while you slept. But when you started your troublesomeness and were angry, your forehead glowed even more. We didn't have any other explanations for your forehead and how it related to your character. And here you are, it isn't shining anymore." (11.16-19)
Gasemu remembers Ishmael from when he was a happy little boy, but he can see that something's changed about him. The happy and passionate boy whose face used to glow is gone. Someone else has replaced him now, someone much more adult and jaded.