How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I got quiet because the things I couldn't say were coming out of my mouth anyhow. (4.10)
Here's another Violet-as-jazz gem. This quote sounds seriously spooky, right? Violet sounds like the kind of woman that you would cross the street to avoid because she might be having an argument with a streetlamp. But, thought of in a different light, what she's saying makes tons of sense: Keep stuff bottled up and it's bound to come out in an unpleasant, unsettling manner.
Quote #8
It had rocked him when he heard who and what his father was. Made him loose, lost. He had first fingered and then torn some of his mother's clothes and sat in the grass looking at the things scattered on the lawn as well as in his mind. (6.48)
Violet is not the only person who loses it a bit. Golden Gray kind of breaks when he finds out that his father is black because, you know, his entire identity has been a lie. When confronted with a crazy situation, acting crazy makes sense. And what could be crazier than realizing (1) that you could have been born a slave, and (2) the idea of slavery itself?
Quote #9
"But I understood what she meant. About having another you inside of you that isn't anything like you." (9.42)
Felice knows what Violet is talking about—she's had the experience of feeling like there are disparate parts of her personality battling inside of her. And you know what this feeling is kind of like? The conversation between various instruments within a single jazz composition.