How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Shin is the one with the long fingers wrapped around a spiral-bound, nine-by-twelve-inch sketchbook.
He is never without it. (1.42-43)
If you look at paintings of Catholic saints, you'll see the people are usually holding something, or posed with a symbol. These are their icons, and over time the objects themselves have come to identify the individual.
We're not saying that Shin is a saint, but we are saying that Shin is never without his sketchbook—if there were a painting of him, it would include the sketchbook, and we would know it was Shin because of the inclusion of the sketchbook. Shin as scientist, as Pod God, comic book illustrator, and First Keeper of the Sacred Text are identities represented at various times by that sketchbook.
Quote #2
My mother is convinced that I am suffering from […] disease (2.16)
What kind of a sense of self is a guy gonna develop if his mom is constantly hovering and interpreting, basically convinced there is something wrong with him?
Quote #3
"How come only men can be priests? I mean, who wants to be a nun?"
Magda asks, "Do they let women be priests in the Ten-legged church?" (3.16, 42)
Why do you think Magda would rather be a priest than a nun? We think it is probably because she'd prefer more power and influence instead of less.