How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
There were two things Graceful did not know about her life: how many children she would have, and when she would die. If she thought about not knowing these two huge things, her stomach went tight. It was fear and it was joy, that tightness, all at once and all mixed. (2.5)
It's funny how none of these things turn out the way she expected, isn't it? In fact, Graceful's life is turned upside down when her dad breaks it off with Cam and strikes up a deal with Gyaar. It makes us wonder what the book is saying about those traditions and customs overall.
Quote #2
Why did Father want to change the order of things? It made her insides jump. Father was sun and earth and all things between, and no one was greater than him, not even the gods, but Fenister Fort Farm had boundaries, boundaries set so long ago that no one knew who or how or why, but that they were set. And Father was pushing them around. (2.92)
To Downlanders, change = bad and tradition = good. We get this reaction from Graceful to show how folks view the adjustments that are happening, and it ain't pretty.
Quote #3
Father always stopped the cart at the flats, and always told the same story, and always laughed as if it were funny, a joke. When Graceful had been small, she had laughed too. (2.123)
Now that Graceful is older, perhaps it's not so funny—she already knows all her dad's jokes and stories, and it seems like she's bored with the same old, same old. Hmm… maybe it's not such a bad idea for her to switch it up and marry an Uplander.