Dancing on the Edge Religion Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph

Quote #1

I thought about all the questions I was going to ask Mama, the same questions I had asked her every night since I could remember. "Where are you, Mama?" I always began, lying in my bed and staring up into the darkness, feeling her silence. "Where is the spirit world? Is it just like heaven?" (1.14)

Death is confusing enough for a kid to understand without introducing Gigi's thoughts about the spirit world into the mix. It's obvious that Miracle has a lot of questions about her mother, mostly because of the half-truths she can sense from her family about Sissy's death. The disturbing part, though, is that her questions about the spirit world only scratch the surface of the true story.

Quote #2

Gigi always said four was a sacred and holy number. She said all numbers are important because they contain all things in the natural and spiritual world, but I didn't like the number four because four and a half months after Mama married Dane, she got run over by an ambulance speeding to the scene of an accident. (1.8)

Here's a thought for you: Gigi kind of worships colors and numbers. Each one has special significances and certain rules for interacting with them. Sissy's death, however, shows that their association in the spirit world doesn't necessarily match up with how they can play out in the real world. Apparently, Gigi herself isn't even aware of these contradictions.

Quote #3

Gigi didn't like me asking a lot of questions. She said my questions upset the karmic balance, and I knew this was so, because even though I didn't know what karmic balance meant, I could tell how upset my questions made her. (1.23)

Gigi's superstitious religious views are damaging to Miracle in a lot of ways, but one of the worst is that they take away Miracle's ability to ask questions. Out of fear that people will discover she's a fake, questions are something Gigi thinks are best avoided.