How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
When I had bought those shoes and showed them to my mother, she said that they were not fit for a young lady and not fit for wearing on being received into church. We had an enormous fight over the shoes, and I may have said unspeakable things to her, though I have forgotten everything except that at the end I turned and said, "I wish you were dead." As I said it, I felt hollow inside. My mother then got such a bad headache that the turtleberry leaves she placed on her temples to draw out the pain had to be changed every two hours, so quickly did the heat of the pain scorch them. (7.14)
This argument between Annie and her mother over shoes is one of the many story-within-a-story moments in the text. Here, Annie tells her mother that she hates her after being scolded over the shoes she bought for her first Communion. This moment shows the John family's belief in the power of words. "I wish you were dead," makes Annie feel hollow inside and makes her mother physically ill.