How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Codi, you could be a doctor if you wanted to do that. You learned the skills. Don't try to put the blame on something abstract like your nerve—you have to take responsibility. Is it something you want, or not?"
"I don't know."
He didn't move.
[...]
"It's not," I finally said, for the first time.
"No?"
"No. I thought it would be an impressive thing to do. But I don't think it was a plan that really grew out of my life. I can't remember ever thinking it would be all that delightful to look down people's throats and into their nasty infected ears and their gall bladders."
"You're entitled to that opinion," he said. "That the human body is a temple of nastiness." (14.106-7)
This is an important exchange, first because we learn that Codi doesn't really want to be a doctor. So maybe knowing how to drive a particular road isn't all that matters, because you also have to want to be there? We also learn that Doc feels medicine really is his vocation—he doesn't believe that people are nasty. That broadens Doc's character a little, and this is the scene when he begins to be less of a villain and more of a not very-good-at-feelings type of dad.
Quote #5
"Well. But you are real good at your job," I said.
"I'm getting there."
"I guess I never knew there was so much too it."
He set down his cup and crossed his arms. "Pretty good for an Injun boy, huh?" (23.144-148)
On the one hand, this is another little sliver of Codi and Loyd's subtle, ongoing, unfinished conversation about race. On the other hand, it's a breakthrough for Codi—she's realizing maybe for the first time that there are other difficult jobs in the world besides being a doctor.
Quote #6
I spotted Loyd through the crowd. Everybody wanted to talk to him, cutting in like suitors at a dance. He was quite at home here, and relaxed: an important man who's beyond self-importance. (16.22)
Kingsolver makes sure we know that Loyd is really talented as a "handler" of fighting birds. Is it just part of his overall mystique? We don't think so. It's important in this novel to chose your work wisely. You have to choose not just what you're good at doing, but also what you believe in.