How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Bow," [Estha] said, and smiled, because when he was younger he had been under the impression that you had to say "Bow" when you bowed. That you had to say it to do it. (4.23)
Here we see Estha holding on to a bit of his childlike innocence. He smiles when he thinks back to the way he viewed the world when he was still innocent. Even though he now knows that you don't have to say "bow" when you perform the action, he does it anyway – and the little kid who once invented that rule lives on in him.
Quote #5
There was a voice from outside the picture. It was clear and true, cutting through the fan-whirring, peanut-crunching darkness. There was a nun in the audience. Heads twisted around like bottle caps. Black-haired backs of heads became faces with mouths and mustaches. Hissing mouths with teeth like sharks. Many of them. Like stickers on a card.
"Shhhh!" they said together. It was Estha who was singing. A nun with a puff. An Elvis Pelvis Nun. He couldn't help it. (4.53-54).
We can almost hear Estha's pure, true voice carrying over the soundtrack of The Sound of Music. He can't help being overtaken by the music he loves so much. This is one of the last moments of sheer joy that Estha will ever experience, and we can't help but feel a little heartwarmed by it. The simplicity and innocence here makes the molestation that happens just moments later seem all the more vile and terrible.
Quote #6
"Where d'you think people are sent to Jolly Well Behave?" Estha asked Rahel in a whisper.
"To the government," Rahel whispered back, because she knew. (6.187-188)
This exchange gives us more insight into the way Estha and Rahel think the world of grown-ups works. (To them, "the government" is some scary, physical place.) This moment mixes equal parts wonder and fear to give us a glimpse into Estha and Rahel's incomplete view of the world.