How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I couldn't believe that was Gramps lying in the casket. It was just a tired, drained, skeleton covered by skin. Oh, I've seen dead frogs and birds and lizards and Easter chickens, but this was such a shock! It seemed unreal. It was almost like a bad trip. (194.1)
Viewing someone you love after they've died can be pretty traumatic, no matter who you are. Open-casket wakes can be pretty devastating, because no matter what the mortician does, the person in that coffin never looks like they did while they were living.
Quote #8
I don't really understand the resurrection. I can't even conceive how Gramps' body which will decay and sour and mold and mildew and fall into crumbling little bits can ever come back together again. But I can't understand how a brown dried-up, shriveled little gladiola bulb can reblossom either. I guess that God can put atoms and molecules and bodies together again if a gladiola bulb without even a brain can do it. This really makes me feel a lot better, and I don't know how I could ever expect to understand death when I can't even understand television or electricity, or even stereo for that matter. In fact I understand so little I don't know how I even exist. (196.1)
This is an instance where Alice's religion only causes her more confusion, rather than comfort. She is so distracted by the corporeal facts of death that she makes the resurrection a very physical act. What if she'd interpreted the resurrection as a more spiritual event—do you think that would have alleviated some of her fears?
Quote #9
I had a nightmare last night about Gramps' body all filled with maggots and worms, and I thought about what would happen if I should die. Worms don't make distinction under the ground. They wouldn't care that I'm young and that my flesh is solid and firm. (197.1)
Poor Alice—she's obviously having a really hard time coping with her grandfather's death. At least it's diverted her from all the suicidal thoughts, though, right?