How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Minnie arched her back and screamed. I thought for sure Mrs. Crego would kill her. I held her arms tightly and buried my face in her back and prayed for it to end.
I'd never known it was like this for a woman. Never. We'd always been sent to Aunt Josie's when Mamma's time was near. We would stay there overnight, and when we came back, there was Mamma smiling with a new baby in her arms. (9.wan.46-47)
Childbirth seems to be one of the transitions from childhood to womanhood and adulthood that is never talked about. Mattie's never seen the truth of it, and when she realizes what labor and delivery (in 1906) are actually like, she has to wonder if married life is for her.
Quote #5
My voice trembled as I spoke, as it did whenever I was angry. "I feel let down sometimes. The people in books—the heroes—they're always so… heroic. And I try to be, but…"
"… you're not," Lou said, licking deviled ham off her fingers.
"… no, I'm not. People in books are good and noble and unselfish, and people aren't that way ... and I feel, well… hornswoggled sometimes. By Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and Louisa May Alcott. Why do writers make things sugary when life isn't that way?" I asked too loudly. "Why don't they tell the truth? Why don't they tell how a pigpen looks after the sow's eaten her children? Or how it is for a girl when her baby won't come out? Or that cancer has a smell to it? All those books, Miss Wilcox," I said, pointing at a pile of them, "and I bet not one of them will tell you what cancer smells like. I can, though. It stinks. Like meat gone bad and dirty clothes and bog water all mixed together. Why doesn't anyone tell you that?" (22.glean.77-79)
Mattie takes issue with the false but beautiful world presented to her in books. Previously, she was okay with the characters and the authors' choices, but now she's beginning to question the verity of some of what she's read. In fact, Mattie's starting to look far more critically at literature than she ever has before, and critical thinking is one marker of adulthood.
Quote #6
"Tommy… tell your ma… tell her I'll call on her a bit later, all right? All right, Tom? Here… here are some biscuits. Take them in to her when… when you can."
Tommy didn't answer me. His thin shoulders sagged from the weight of knowing. I could feel the heaviness, too, and it made me angry. I didn't want it. Didn't want to carry it. Tommy took the food, but he wouldn't look at me. (27.hispidulous.36-37)
Mattie has just realized the true nature of Frank Loomis and Emmie Hubbard's relationship. And this knowledge, and the shame it brings not only her but her friend Tommy, weighs heavily on her soul. She doesn't want to shoulder the knowledge, but she's got no choice.