How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Stanza)
Quote #1
Ma tried having other babies. / It never seemed to go right, except with me. (1.5)
Ma's previous miscarriages not only foreshadow that something will eventually go wrong with her current pregnancy, but clues us into the fact that the fragility of life will be a significant theme in the book.
Quote #2
The flaming oil / splashed / onto her apron, / and Ma, / suddenly, Ma, / was a column of fire. (32.5)
Ma's accident is a testimony to how quickly life can change. You can be cooking breakfast one minute and surrounded by flames the next, and lives are left changed as a result. Kansas really was right about that "dust in the wind" thing.
Quote #3
My father stares out across his land, / empty but for a few withered stalks / like the tufts on an old man's head. / I don't know if he thinks more of Ma, / or the wheat that used to grow here. (39.4)
Death is a dark, heavy cloud hovering over Daddy's farm. Not only has he lost his wife and child, but his crop is destroyed; the home he and Ma built together is in shambles.