How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I have decided to write it all down for you, and I will, but that decision doesn't keep me from having my doubts. I wonder if maybe it would be better if you never read this. I wonder if you really need to know exactly what happened to us—me, you, Callie—at the hands of our mother. (P.2)
Even Matthew—the writer of this long letter—isn't sure that he should hand it over to Emmy. Would it be better for her to know everything that happened, or is she better off just forgetting the bad parts of their childhood?
Quote #2
A weak man would be hypnotized, paralyzed. (As far as I can tell, this was what happened to my father, Ben, when he met Nikki as a teenager.) A bad man would be attracted to her on a more equal basis. And a good man, of course, would run like hell. (9.2)
When Murdoch realizes that Nikki is a violent and unhinged person, he makes the choice to leave. Matthew can respect that choice, but this doesn't mean that he doesn't resent Murdoch at least a little bit for leaving them all in the lurch.
Quote #3
He'd left us, left me and Callie, just because he was told to. He was there one day, and then the next, he was slinking off with one old suitcase and a backpack, leaving behind lots of stuff he cared about… (13.6)
Ben chose to give up his role as a father just because Nikki told him to go. Instead of fighting for the kids, he made the decision to take the easy way out—and it's haunted him ever since.