How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
For the next three weeks Arrietty was especially "good": she helped her mother in the storeroom; she swept and watered the passages and trod them down; she sorted and graded the beads (which they used as buttons) into the screw tops of aspirin bottles. (7.1)
Here Arrietty is on her best behavior so that her father will take her borrowing. Now you might call that that being manipulative, but maybe she is just playing the game that children must play in order to gain power from her parents.
Quote #5
"Oh, no—" Arrietty began ("if I don't help," she thought, "he won't want me again") but Pod insisted. (7.40)
Once again, Arrietty is concerned with how her behavior will seem to adults, and whether or not that will affect her future freedom. After all, your behavior probably changes when you are around people your own age as opposed to adults.
Quote #6
"How does she know that boy ain't still here?"
"What boy?" asked Arrietty.
Pod looked embarrassed. "What boy?" He repeated vaguely and then went on: "or may be Crampfurl—"
"Crampfurl isn't a boy," said Arrietty.
"No, he isn't," said Pod, "not in a manner of speaking. No," he went on as though thinking this out, "no you wouldn't call Crampfurl a boy. Not, as you might say, a boy—exactly. Well," he said, beginning to move away, "stay down a bit if you like. But stay close!" (8.23-27)
Hmmmm. Something smells fishy. Pod seems to want to keep Arrietty away from the boy, but not for the typical reasons a father wants to keep his daughter away from boys. There's a bit more at stake in the borrowers' world.