How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You're different here," Kate told me. "On the ground, I mean." I said nothing. "I think you're more frightened down here than you were when the ship was about to crash."
"You're right," I said. "I don't like being on the ground. I don't feel at home."
"Do you think it's because you were born in the air?" she asked. She looked at me as if I were a picture in a textbook. (9.70-72)
Is the Aurora home because it's airborne, or is it home because that's where Matt's father's presence is most keenly felt? Would he be able to make another airship his home if he had to?
Quote #5
"Don't ask me to choose, please. It's not fair. You or the captain. You or the ship."
"It doesn't seem a very difficult choice to me," Kate said, her nostrils narrowing. "Anyway, I don't see what the ship's got to do with this."
"It's my home."
"It's not your home," she said impatiently. "It's where you work, that's all."
I looked at her, not trusting myself to speak. She didn't understand anything. (10.129-133)
Of course Kate can't understand. Why would a normal person be so attached to the place where they work, unless there's another reason to feel so committed?
Quote #6
I'd never been able to tell my mother how comforting it had been to work aboard Dad's old ship. Everyone knew about my father, and they were all very kind to me, especially Captain Walken. Baz took me under his wing right away—the older brother I never had. I felt like I'd discovered another family aloft. And my father always felt nearby, visiting me often in my dreams. I kept this all to myself, though, for I couldn't bear being disloyal to Mom and Isabel and Sylvia. (11.112)
Matt has created a whole other family aboard the Aurora because, after all, what is a home without family? So is he being disloyal to his mother and sisters? Once again, maybe he could find a way to have two homes.