How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I can hear his heart beating the whole time and I'm thinking, Why not? I could step out of this sad life like it's an old sorry dress, and go to Paris with Joe—we could get on a plane and fly over the ocean and land in France. We could do it today even. I have money saved. I have a beret. A hot black bra. I know how to say Je t'aime. I love coffee and chocolate and Baudelaire. And I've watched Bailey enough to know how to wrap a scarf. We could really do it, and the possibility makes me feel so giddy I think I might catapult into the air. (15.22)
What strikes us about this passage is that it's really different from the way Lennie's been thinking and feeling in all the pages leading up to it. She's been depressed, agonizing over her sister's death, and this is the first time she has an extended daydream about something happy. Joe makes her think in a different way—he makes her imagine possibilities.
Quote #5
"[…] you know how some people have natural tendencies, how I paint and garden, how Big's an arborist, how you, Bailey, want to grow up and be an actress—"
"I'm going to Julliard," she told us.
Gram smiled. "Yes, we know, Miss Hollywood. Or Miss Broadway, I should say."
"Our mom?" I reminded them before we ended up talking some more about that dumb school. All I'd hoped was that it was in walking distance if Bailey was going there. (18.21-24)
Lennie's already told us that Julliard was Bailey's dream, but in this flashback, we get to see Bailey dreaming it. It seems like Bailey's dream is pretty abstract. She's only eleven years old. She just says she's going to Julliard—we don't see her working hard to qualify, or even knowing what it takes to qualify. It's a kid dream, not a real plan.
Quote #6
One time after I improvise alone for a while, he exclaims, "Your tone is awesome, so so lonely, like, I don't know, a day without birds or something," but I don't feel lonely at all. I feel like Bailey is listening. (18.40)
After avoiding really playing music for so long out of loyalty to her sister, Lennie learns something important when she finally does play: Playing the clarinet does the opposite of what she feared. It actually makes her feel closer to Bailey.