How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
It wasn't the food alone that so raised Johnny's hopes. It was Rab himself; an ease and confidence flowed out and supported those around him. The marketwoman had felt better about losing her Myra after she had talked with Rab. He was the first person to whom Johnny Tremain had confided his own story. (3.1.65)
Johnny totally spills his guts to Rab the first time they meet, and here we have the beginning of a classic bromance. Rab is exactly what Johnny needs—someone to give him a reality check on his pride, his emotional outbursts, and his tendency toward drama, which is exactly what Rab continues to do the whole time Johnny knows him—right up to the end.
Quote #5
Cilla was a little shabby. The sight of her touched Johnny's heart. He pitied her—and yet he wished she had not come. Now it seemed years ago, not months, that he had lived at the Laphams', and then surely Cilla and Isannah were the only friends he had. But he had on going to the Observer entered a new, vast, and exciting world. He had made new friends. (6.2.4)
Remember when we said Johnny could be a bit of a jerk? Sometimes he means to be—like with Dove, but sometimes it's through carelessness—like with Cilla. Now he thinks he's too cool for school because he's hanging out with the Founding Fathers (not that he thinks of them like that). At this point, Johnny's having trouble reconciling his new world with his old world, and for a while his friendship with Cilla gets caught in the crossfire.
Quote #6
Cilla, waiting and waiting for him at North Square—and then he got there only about when it pleased him. He loved Cilla. She and Rab were the best friends he had ever had. Why was he mean to her? He couldn't think. (6.4.15)
Johnny is mean to Cilla because Esther Forbes portrays the way fifteen-year-old boys act toward their crushes way more accurately than those authors who act like they buy flowers and compose love poems. (We don't mean to stereotype: if you're a fifteen-year-old boy who composes love poems, keep on keeping on. We wish we'd known you in high school.) Cilla is a real blind spot for Johnny. He totally likes her, and he totally can't admit to himself that she's anything special. What is your problem, Johnny Tremain?