How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Mina always greeted Dicey at school, whenever she saw her. "Hey, Dicey, how you doing." Dicey always answered, "Pretty good and you," the way you were supposed to. Then she beat a fast path to her desk, or the next class. She didn’t want anybody to think she was trying to have friends. (3.38)
If your mom left you, first inside her head and then physically, you might very well fall into the "I’ll leave you before you can leave me" trap. It’s lonely, but it’s safe.
Quote #5
"You sure are a hard person to be friends with, Dicey Tillerman." (3.93)
Mina’s humor, charm, and popularity make her an alien to Dicey, but eventually Dicey realizes Mina’s a highly intelligent outsider, too, and decides to let her in. But what change in Dicey brings that about? Why does she finally let Mina be her friend?
Quote #6
"James never had friends, none of us did really, on account of Momma and where we lived, and a whole lot of things. But James always wanted them. I think – if he wrote another report – he did it because he didn’t want to be too different. Because if you’re too different people don’t like you." (4.155)
It’s pretty tragic that one of the ways you can alienate yourself is by being too intelligent, even in the gifted class. Trust us on this one: if you have to play dumb to get people to be your friends, they’re not your real friends.