How we cite our quotes: (Poem Title, Stanza)
Quote #4
I needed to go home, because somewhere deep down, I needed my mommy. And all that made me really need a line. (Lince Floated.3-6)
When it comes down to it, don't we all need our parents when the chips are down? It's funny how being with her dad alters Kristina's perspective, letting her glimpse what life must have been like for her mother all those years ago.
Quote #5
Instead, we returned to small talk, which is probably all we'll ever manage, all we'll ever get to, if we get to anything at all.
We couldn't have spent more than two hours, total, within three weeks tied up in trying to talk to each other.
Inter-family communication must be an acquired skill. (Instead We Returned to Small Talk.1-3)
It's funny how Kristina's dad fights tooth and nail in court to get his daughter out to visit him, but when she's actually there, he doesn't seem to really care. They're supposed to be reconnecting, but based on this passage, that pretty much never happens. Maybe the whole point of her dad getting Kristina out there was to have one up on her mom.
Quote #6
I considered my suitcase, sitting empty and closed on the floor.
Empty and closed like Dad, not quite hopeless, but not ready to be filled.
Empty and closed like Mom, writing a novel to create the excitement lacking in her own little life.
Empty and closed like my sister, genetically locked in a maelstrom of meaningless apologies. (I Considered That.1-4)
One major factor that drives Kristina to use drugs is that she comes from a family where nobody says anything—she describes each of them as "empty and closed" here, which is pretty rough. With communication so seriously lacking in this family, how can we expect Kristina to be open about her struggles?