How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it. (1.1)
These gory images are the first two lines of the book, which lets us know that Flynn isn't going to let us look away from any violence. She's going to dive into it, head first.
Quote #2
My mom, two sisters, gone: bang bang, chop chop, choke choke. (1.4)
Libby tries not to think of her family, but she has no problem focusing on the violence of the crime. It's part of her victim complex to act like the violence is no big deal. She thinks she's used to it, but she's not.
Quote #3
Maniacal smears of bright red sound in the night. That inevitable, rhythmic axe, moving as mechanically as if it were chopping wood. Shotgun blasts in a small hallway. The panicked, jaybird cries of my mother, still trying to save her kids with half her head gone. (1.56)
Once again, we see Libby talking about the murder of her own mother as if it were no big deal. Explaining it in detail is her way of coping with it.