How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We'd each finished about half the cup when Browning said, "Karl, I saw you moving like you were going to kill that boy when he said those things about your mother."
"Well," I said, "she's my mom. And he's an asshole. Mom has a lot of problems. I'm not saying she doesn't, she's a mess, but she's my mom." (21.30-31)
We've already talked about the Madmen's crazy loyalty to their families, no matter how bad the circumstances are, but Karl proves himself to be just like them when he defends his mom even though she's really indefensible. What it comes down to is that he can't stand people talking smack about his mom, even if what they say about her is true.
Quote #8
There was a presentation Don gave once at the AA meeting about life decisions. He said to imagine all the bad parts, and then ask if you'd pay that much, have all the bad parts on purpose, to have the good parts.
How many times would I wash my sheets while dead exhausted, to have this big hairy idiot purring and loving me? (23.29-30)
No matter how badly Karl wants to lose his virginity to Darla—and believe us, he wants it pretty bad—his compassion for Hairball ultimately overcomes his teenage hormonal rush. His realization that he doesn't want to kill his cat is kind of a big part of his character arc; instead of seeing only the bad parts of the situation, he sees the good that isn't a bad trade-off for it.
Quote #9
In the backyard, all five of the glazed and primed storm windows were lying in the wet grass, some of their shattered panes knocked all the way out, littering the yard with hundreds of bright glints in the sun.
"You like to be barefoot out here," I said. "This is really stupid." (23.105-106)
So, we just watched Karl (with assistance from Wonderful Bill) re-glaze all of those stupid windows only hours before, only to have Beth smash them all in a fit of whatever. Karl would be totally justified in snapping at her over this, but all he says is that she likes to go barefoot and now she can't. While he could have freaked out on her, he shows mercy on her instead.