Stargirl Stargirl Caraway Quotes

"The thing is, there's no difference anymore between me and the universe. The boundary is gone. I am it and it is me. I am a stone, a cactus thorn. I am rain." She smiled dreamily. "I like that most of all, being rain" (17.90).

Through her meditation, she does not just gain wisdom from what the earth tells her, she actually becomes other things. Cool, huh?

"Look, even the desert is celebrating."

It seemed to be true. The normally dull cacti and scrub were splashed with April colors, as if a great painter had passed over the landscape with a brush, dabbing yellow here, red there… she skipped and whirled and cartwheeled among the prickly natives. She bowed to a yucca, waltzed with a saguaro…  (27.53-56).

On the way to her competition, Stargirl pays attention to the natural world around her. Because she does this, and takes time out to celebrate with nature, she ends up with an idea for a fantastic speech, which will eventually win her a trophy. Because of this, we notice how spontaneous Stargirl is too – instead of planning a speech way ahead of time, she lives in the moment and finds inspiration all around her.

It was a jumble, it was a mishmash, and somehow she pulled it together, somehow she threaded every different thing through the voice of a solitary mockingbird singing in the desert. She called her speech "I Might Have Heard a Moa" (28.5).

It is through her interest in our natural past that Stargirl comes up with a fabulous idea for a speech. And you know what, she's right. According to Archie, she just might have heard a moa. We don't know about you, but the next time Shmoop hears a mockingbird, we'll be listening for a moa call.