How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Title.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Lawton does. Said it was my fault. That I killed her with hard work. Said I should have moved us all to Inlet and worked in the sawmill. Said I killed your mother and I wasn't going to kill him." And then his face crumpled and he sobbed like a child. "I didn't kill her; I loved her..." (35.aby.75)
Pa is virtually incoherent in his illness, but he reveals the guilt and sorrow he feels about his wife's death and his son's abandonment. This guilt takes a huge toll on not just him, but his four daughters as well. The strength of emotion is almost too much for him to bear.
Quote #8
"None of Emmie's brats is any kin to me."
"He can't help how he got here; he's only a baby," I said softly.
He looked at me like I was Judas himself. Then he said, "What if it was your pa, Mattie? Taking the first milk of the year over to Emmie's when you and your sisters hadn't yet tasted any? Lying to your ma, leaving her standing in the barn crying? You think you'd give a damn what happened to the Hubbards then?" His voice had turned husky. I saw that it cost him to say these things. "My ma… she can't leave the house some days, she's that ashamed. Them books of yours tell you how that feels? You keep reading, maybe you'll find out." And then he walked off and left me standing by myself. (40.ideal.27-29)
Royal's experience with his own family kind of forces us to feel more empathy for him than we usually do. While we think he's cruel for wanting to kick the Hubbards off their land, it's much harder to hate him for it when it comes from a place of wanting to protect his family.
It's clear that Frank Loomis's constant infidelities have caused heartbreak and divisions in the Loomis family. Plus, there are all sorts of power struggles tangled up in the situation. Think of who has more power: Frank Loomis, wealthy male farmer, or Emmie Hubbard, poor widow. So family is tied up with pride and shame as well as power too.
Quote #9
And under all that, wrapped up in the same sort of brown paper I recognized from Mr. Eckler's boat, was a thin, flat package. I opened it. It was a brand-new composition book. There was no inscription, but I knew it was from my pa. It was a nice thing for him to do and it should've made me happy, but instead it made me want to cry. (40.ideal.36)
The first time Mattie bought a brand-new composition book, her father smacked her across the face; this time, he's bought it for her birthday. What sort of realizations has he had about Mattie, and why might Mattie want to cry instead of being happy?