How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
What was it like to be Link hearing just how badly Dad wants him to obey those laws that no one will write down? What was it like to be Dad wanting that so badly? I try to look at them as if they are strangers. As if I could ever understand them. I try and I fail. (13.57)
Just because social rules exist doesn't mean that they are right. Finally, Ellen is seeing the importance of these "laws" as they apply to her. Link is suffering because their dad rigidly adheres to these prejudices, believing they are best for his family. Suddenly Ellen sees that even though her father is one of the smartest people she knows, he's not always right.
Quote #8
"Like most minorities, gay people are forced to live outside the mainstream of society," Dad says.
"That's ridiculous," I say. "Lots of famous people are gay." Of course, right at this moment the only famous gay people I can think of are dead.
"Famous is not the issue," Dad says. "It's that by virtue of being different from the majority, gay people find themselves outside. In life's margins, if you will. From there, they are able to make unique observations. Most art—dance, music, poetry, what have you—is an expressed observation." (16.32-34)
This is one of the ways in which our story, as lovely as it is, can be a bit dated. Yes, often times gay people are marginalized in ways that are both obvious and invisible, but in our country today this is gradually becoming less true.
Quote #9
Perhaps my father is not so clueless after all. It's only by being forced to navigate (as opposed to simply obeying) society's unwritten laws that you realize they exist. And that allows you –forces you—to look at things differently from the way people who follow the laws without much, if any, thought look at things. (16.35)
Ellen is finally catching on. The reason she never picked up on those social rules was because they didn't apply to her. Now that she has a reason to try to navigate the unwritten laws surrounding homosexuality, she has more awareness than those who continue living their lives blissfully ignorant.