How we cite our quotes: (Page.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The next day, I slipped the drawing into his Gemorra. I saw the sudden stiffening of his shoulders when he found it. I saw him stare at it. I saw him turn to look at me, then stop. He crumpled the drawing. But he did not throw it away. He put it in his pocket.(241.2)
Asher has created a truly terrifying caricature of a classmate who was teasing him and given it to him in pretty much the most artistic and amazing form of revenge ever. Would anyone else be able to retaliate to bullying with a Michelangelo-quality sketch? Nope. Does this make Asher an individual? Definitely.
Quote #8
One afternoon, I painted a portrait of myself in my fisherman's cap, with my long red earlocks and tufts of red hair on my cheeks and chin and eyes dark but flecked with tiny spots of light. I looked at the portrait and I tucked my earlocks behind my ears. (255.3)
The earlocks—or payot, as they are referred to in Hebrew—are commonly worn by Hasidic Jews as a sign of religious devotion. By tucking his earlocks behind his ears, Asher is separating himself from his community and asserting himself as an individual.