How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Why don't boys ever want to be themselves? Why do boys always want to be somebody else?" asked Louise, who wanted to be Camilla. (9.30)
When Lamont starts acting like Nigel, Louise has some questions. She figures that acting like someone else is a characteristic of boys, but doesn't realize that she wants to be like someone else, too. At least Lamont wants to be like another mouse…
Quote #8
We stared at each other, up and down the rumpled blanket. It was littered with his toys. The rubber ball. A drum with sticks. A nutcracker in the shape of a foreign soldier. A cast iron royal coach with four horses. Boys live in this kind of clutter. I was reminded of Lamont's bedroom. The collar buttons, the birds' bones, the ball of twine. The mess. (11.34)
According to Helena boy mice and boy humans have some similarities—and if one similarity takes the cake, it's their messiness. What do you think about how Helena characterizes her brother and Sebastian? Is she painting a positive picture of boys? Or is it entirely negative?
Quote #9
Then he handed the bouquet over to Beatrice.
"Me?" She pointed an innocent finger at herself. "How nice."
"It would be Beatrice," Louise muttered. "How typical of the entire male sex. Honestly. They go for her type every time." (12.39-41)
We've seen the characters make a lot of assumptions about boys in this book, and now Louise has one more: all boys like Beatrice's "type." Doesn't she sound a little jealous when she says so, though?