How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Are you the grandmother?" Sammy asked.
Their grandmother nodded.
"What am I s'posed to call you?" Sammy asked.
Dicey hadn't even thought of this. Neither, apparently, had their grandmother. She didn't answer Sammy. She pretended she hadn't heard him. "Let's get back," she said. (2.8.71-74)
Okay, so Abigail is family, but she's not exactly cozying up to the whole grandma label. She's looking to keep these kids at a distance and it would help if she could deny that they were her flesh and blood for just a little while longer.
Quote #8
"Paper mulberry," her grandmother answered.
Dicey noticed from above what could not be seen from below. There were strong twisted wires running around the tree. "Why is it wired?" she asked.
"Because paper mulberries are fragile," her grandmother answered. "It's the way they spread out at the top, it's the way they grow. If you didn't brace it, the weight of the leaves and the growing branches would pull the tree apart. Like families." (2.8.127-129)
Yup, the Tillermans sure have fractured. Maybe Abigail will try to keep this family together after all, just like that old paper mulberry.
Quote #9
Her grandmother was looking at her. "Doesn't he get punished?" she asked.
Dicey wanted to go along with her, so that she would like the Tillermans and let them stay on her farm. She wanted to agree so badly that she had trouble saying the words to argue. But she had given Sammy her word, and Maybeth. She had said she'd stand up for them. And she had learned that she had to do what she thought was right for her family, not what someone else thought. (2.9.225-226)
What's even more important than finding a home? Family. Dicey learn with Cousin Eunice that she needs to stand by her siblings, so she won't just go along to make her grandma happy. She has to stick by her nearest and dearest instead.