How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"He loved her so much that after she died he spent the rest of his days slumped in a chair, staring down the road where they'd carried her to holy ground. He lost interest in everything. He let his lands lie fallow, and gave orders for the tools that worked it to be destroyed. Some say it was because he was worn out; others said it was despair. The one sure thing is that he threw everyone off his land and sat himself down in his chair to stare down that road." (42.30)
Losing Susana is the hardest thing for Pedro. Even though no one murdered her, as in his father's case, the only way he knows how to deal with death is through revenge.
Quote #8
"And all of it was Don Pedro's doing, because of the turmoil of his soul. Just because his wife, that Susanita, had died. So you tell me whether he loved her." (42.33)
Dorotea seems to excuse Pedro's revenge on the town, because it is rooted in love for his lost wife. Apparently being really sad is a good enough reason to starve everyone you know to death? Jeepers.
Quote #9
That was why she was laughing now.
"I knew it was you, Bartolomé."
And poor Justina, weeping on Susana's bosom, sat up to see what she was laughing about, and why her laughter had turned to wild guffaws.
Susana hated her father for sending her down into the mines as a child, and when she finds out he has died her revenge seems to be laughing instead of crying. That's a way nicer revenge than, say, shooting up a wedding.