How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We tongers stood perched on the washboards of our tiny boats, and, just as our fathers and grandfathers had before us, used our fir wood tongs, three or four times taller than our own bodies, to reach down gently to the oyster bed, feel the bottom until we came to a patch of market-sized oysters, and then closing the rakes over the catch, bring it up to the culling board. Of course, we could not help but bring up some spat, as every oyster clings to its bed until the culling hammer forces a separation, but compared to the dredge, we left the precious bottom virtually undisturbed to provide a bed for the oysters that would be harvested by our children's children. (15.48)
Louise isn't just catching oysters here—she's claiming her birthright as a Bradshaw. She feels a connection to her father and his work, and even though she's a girl, she sees this as her rightful place in the family. Her father isn't so sure, though.
Quote #8
"He never paid me no mind. Old heathen."
I felt as though I had stumbled off a narrow path right into a marsh. "Grandma, do you mean now?"
"You was always a ignorant child. I wouldn't have him on a silver plate now. I mean then."
"Grandma," I was still trying to feel my way, "you were a lot younger than the Captain."
She flashed her eyes at me. "I would've growed," she said like a stubborn child. "He run off and left before I had a chance." Then she put her head down on her gnarled hands and began to cry. "I turned out purty," she said between sobs. "By the time I was thirteen I was the purtiest little thing on the island, but he was already gone. I waited for two more years before I married William, but he never come back 'til now." She wiped her eyes on her shawl and leaned her head back watching a spot on the ceiling. "He was too old for me then, and now it 'pears he's too young. After scatter-headed children like you and Caroline. Oh, my blessed, what a cruel man."
What was I to do? For all the pain she had caused me, to see her like that, still haunted by a childish passion, made me want to put my arm around her and comfort her. But she had turned on me so often, I was afraid to touch her. I tried with words. (17.23-28)
Poor Grandma. In Grandma, Louise sees everything she doesn't want to become. She's a woman who's haunted by the past, scared of the future, and bitter about the present. Maybe this is how things would have ended up for Louise if she had stayed on Rass Island?
Quote #9
"I'm not going to rot here like Grandma. I'm going to get off this island and do something." I waited for her to stop me, but she just stood there. "You're not going to stop me, either."
"I wouldn't stop you," she said. "I didn't stop Caroline, and I certainly won't stop you."
"Oh, Caroline. Caroline's different. Everything's always been for Caroline. Caroline the delicate, the gifted, the beautiful. Of course, we must all sacrifice our lives to give her greatness to the world!" (18.37-39)
And now, it all comes out: Louise is ticked because her family has some weird priorities. Caroline has always seemed to come first, and Louise rarely gets any help from her parents. This is how Louise has felt for years … but is it really true?