How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"When my dad died, I was afraid I'd never ever be happy again. But I was. Once I started working on the Aurora. I loved it. It's the world I was born into. It's all my father's stories. I dream about him up there, and I never do on land. It feels like home aloft. But on the ground, it all catches up with me. So I've got to keep flying, do you see?" (12.34)
Matt doesn't even see where he kind of contradicts himself—since he is running away from the pain of losing his father, the Aurora isn't home, it's a method of conveyance. It will be a home when he feels all those things without having the panic attacks while on the ground.
Quote #8
"Quite an escape artist, aren't you?" Spzirplas was only a few paces from me. "You're an impressive lad. If you hadn't defied me so, I might have offered you a home on my ship."
"This is my home," I told him dully. And I'd never felt it more than now. I'd bundled everything into this ship, all the good feeling I had; all my sense of belonging was beneath my feet, every hope of happiness. And I thought that at least I would die here at home. (20.43-44)
Home is where you make it. Have you ever moved? Sure it takes a while to feel like the new place is really home, but eventually you find that it becomes where you feel most comfortable. Matt couldn't do this because he is too reliant on the Aurora—it's more than a home, and until he can let go of his father's ghost it is an emotional security blanket.
Quote #9
As long as I could still dream about him, I knew everything would be all right. I didn't need to be aloft to find happiness. It could find me wherever I was: on the Aurora, or here in Paris, or back home with Mom and Isabel and Sylvia. (21.52)
Whoa. Did he just use the word home to describe where he lives with his mother and sisters? Talk about a turning point.