How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Tell me where you been and what you saw."
"I think I seen every island in the world," he said.
"And you come home to the prettiest one of all," I answered.
"Yeah," he said, but his focus blurred for a moment. "The water's about to get her, Wheeze."
"Only a bit, to the south," I said defensively.
"Wheeze, open your eyes," he said. "In two years I've been gone, she's lost at least an acre. Another good storm—"
It wasn't right. He should have been more loyal. You don't come home after two years away and suddenly inform your mother that she's dying. (16.41-47)
This conversation between Louise and Call shows that no one talks bad about Louise's hometown. No one. Louise's identity is so tied up in the injustices on Rass Island that she can't bear to think it will be gone one day. Where will that leave Louise? Where would she find her place in the world?
Quote #8
"Of course you may leave. You never said before you wanted to leave."
And, oh, my blessed, she was right. All my dreams of leaving, but beneath them I was afraid to go. I had clung to them, to Rass, yes, even to my grandmother, afraid that if I loosened my fingers an iota, I would find myself once more cold and clean in a forgotten basket. (18.42-43)
And now, it all makes sense: Louise thinks she wants to leave home, but she realizes that she's been using Rass Island as a crutch. As long as she stays home, nothing has to change—she can be miserable and unhappy and never have to risk anything. Well, that's not going to work.
Quote #9
A mountain-locked valley is more like all island than anything else I know. Our water is the Appalachian wilderness, our boats, the army surplus jeeps we count on to navigate our washboard roads and the hairpin curves across the mountains. There are a few trucks, freely loaned about in good weather to any valley farmer who must take his pigs or calves to market. The rest of us seldom leave the valley. (19.18)
Surprise, surprise—when Louise has the chance to find a new home, she picks one that's weirdly similar to her old home. It might not be an island, but the valley in Truitt is about as close to home as she can get.