How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The only way to be saved from harm was to become seductive. In this latest dream, three beautiful oriental women lay naked in the muddy road, flat on their backs, their faces turned to the sky… The first shots were aimed at the toes of the women, the second at their feet. (11.24)
This quote is one of only a couple of scenes in the novel that deal with sexual stuff, and like those other scenes this portrayal is negative. Just like Naomi's sexuality becomes negative after Old Man Gower molests her, these women try to use their sexuality to save themselves but it only gets them killed. Besides Naomi's own personal experience, this dream probably also refers to the large-scale war rapes that happened during World War II.
Quote #2
In my childhood dreams, the mountain yawns apart as the chasm spreads. My mother is on one side of the rift. I am on the other. We cannot reach each other. My legs are being sawn in half. (11.5)
We see this imagery over and over again. Naomi is separated from her mother and ripped in half. But what do you think about it? Is the rift between Naomi and her mother physical, emotional, or both? Why are her legs being sawn in half?
Quote #3
I am sometimes not certain whether it is a cluttered attic in which I sit, a waiting room, a tunnel, a train. There is no beginning and no end to the forest, or the dust storm, no edge from which to know where the clearing begins. (15.1)
The places that Naomi mentions here are interesting. They are all transitory places. You don't live in an attic: you store things there for later. Tunnels, waiting rooms, and trains are all places that you go through on the way to somewhere else. Why do you think Naomi dreams about these kinds of places? Why doesn't she dream of places like home?