How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Melancholy held me hostage, and the bees built a hive of sadness in my soul. Dark honey filled up inside me, drowning out my thoughts and making it hard to move my eyes and hands. I worked as a puppet trained to scrub and carry, curtsy and nod. (25.1)
One thing Anderson is really awesome at is creating metaphors to symbolize Isabel's pain. The idea of bees making a hive inside her, for example, says everything—we can imagine the constant buzzing and stinging as the grief over losing Ruth takes up residence in her body.
Quote #8
"A scar is a sign of strength," [Grandfather] said quietly. "The sign of a survivor." (26.51)
Grandfather's speech to Isabel about finding her "river Jordan" and embracing her scar as a symbol of her survival is a turning point in how Isabel perceives her suffering. After the branding and loss of Ruth, Isabel has about given up on life; Grandfather, though, begins to quicken the idea in her mind that things don't have to be this way.
Quote #9
We passed countless people standing in the streets like statues, their toes bare on the stones, nightclothes blowing in the unnatural breeze, mouths agape. Carts rolled by carrying half-naked people, bleeding and dazed. A collection of charred bodies had been stacked on a corner, not fully covered by a blanket. A child's boot and stocking lay in the gutter, next to an overturned rain barrel. (31.41)
As the New York fire rages, we at first only see what's going on in Lady Seymour's house—mainly, Isabel's determination to rescue her from the blaze. It's only when they escape to the outside and begin walking to the Locktons' that Isabel sees the full devastation of the fire. We only see brief images here, but the descriptions of the suffering, half dead victims, the bodies, and most poignantly, a single child's shoe paint a vivid picture of the widespread suffering of New York.