How we cite our quotes: ("Abbreviated chapter name," page)
Quote #7
"The lines in his face look as if each one were put there by a distinct calamity rather than a slow accumulation of sorrow. His teeth are blackened and ground down with worry, and he eats only mashed foods like a baby." ("Shells," 121)
Luz has a very sympathetic approach to her father's decay, choosing to think that her mother is entirely responsible for his current hideousness. She doesn't yet realize that there is another side to the story.
Quote #8
"'Water cannot be carried in a basket,' the santero says, shaking his head. 'What you wish for, daughter, you cannot keep. It is the will of the gods.'" ("Baskets," 148)
This is the first indication that things are simply not going to go the way that Felicia wants in her life. She hopes to find herself a good husband because she is lonely and surrounded by family members who don't really understand her. But instead of performing the necessary cleansing rituals, Felicia falls hard for the unattractive Ernesto Brito. Tragedy, of course, ensues.
Quote #9
"Celia reaches up and feels a lump in her chest, compact as a walnut. A week later, the doctors remove her left breast. In its place, they leave a pink, pulpy scar like the one she discovered on her son's back." ("Baskets," 160)
Celia's discovery here is a double sorrow, since her own suffering allows her to understand better what has happened to her son Javier. She no longer has to wonder what the scar and lump on his body signifies.