How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
My mother didn't even listen to my arguments about why it would be better for me to stay home and get a GED than to go back to the high school when it opened. "I can't face people," I said. (56.1)
It seems like Pearl only wants to deal with what happened by layering on the guilt and then hiding from everyone. We hate to break it to her, but that's not going to change what happened; she can't hide from the whole community forever. Not that this stops her from trying…
Quote #8
Still kneeling in the ashes, I took Amiel's stick and started to write in the dust that was so fine I could feel it rising up to smother me, I'm sorry Robby I'm sorry Agnès I'm sorry Hoyt I'm sorry Mom, but they were not the right words to make the invisible appear. (57.25)
In the woods, Pearl breaks down for the first time. Her guilt takes on a new form as she begins to articulate her contrition for what she did. Sure, it's not to the people she's hurt, but at least she starts to talk about apologizing for how she acted the day of the fire.
Quote #9
A month or so later, I wrote two letters— the real thing, handwritten, pen and paper. The first was to Robby and repeated Mary Beth's story. The second was to my aunt Agnès and said that I knew she could never forgive me, that I didn't forgive myself, but I wanted to tell her that I knew it was my fault that my uncle died in the fire. (58.27)
Finally Pearl gets to the point where she can tell Robby and Agnès how sorry she is for Hoyt's death. It's here that we see her move past all of her downtrodden guilt and start to move on with her life. Of course she still feels awful and blames herself, but at least she's trying to make amends.