How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
"His folk are known hewers of wood and drawers of water but in truth his father has been a schoolmaster" (1.1).
This is one of the only mentions of the kid's father that this book ever gives us. You'd think that a trained schoolmaster would be a more upright and responsible guy, but it doesn't sound like it.
Quote #2
"He lies in drink, he quotes from poets whose names are now lost. The boy crouches by the fire and watches him" (1.1).
In his younger years, all the kid can do is crouch and watch his father drink his life away. No wonder the kid decides to get up and run away for adventure. Sure, the world awaiting him is awful, but so is the world at home. Can't this kid just get a break?
Quote #3
"The mother dead these fourteen years did incubate in her own bosom the creature who would carry her off" (1.3).
It looks like the kid's mother died while she was giving birth to him (the kid). As you can imagine, this probably affected the kid's relationship to his father in a horrible way, especially since the father will never say the mother's name to the kid.