The Sky is Everywhere Guilt and Blame Quotes

Lennie doesn't just consider kissing her sister's fiancé betrayal. For doing it, she compares herself to the most notorious betrayers—the betrayer of Jesus, of Caesar, and a famous historical treason-committer. Kissing Toby is, in her mind, one of the worst things she could possibly do.

There's a lot of guilt happening in this passage. There's Gram's, plus there's the guilt Lennie feels for blaming Gram when she knows that neither her mother leaving nor Bailey dying are Gram's fault. Take a look at how the painting of Paige Walker is described: Her cheek is "cold" and "flat." These words make sense, because they're describing a painting, not a real person. But what else to they imply? How might Lennie describe her mother's cheek if she were in a more hopeful mood?

Lennie is remorseful for blowing off Gram, but it only gets her so far. She wants to make it up to Gram, but the next sentence shows that she doesn't take any action. So Gram's hurt doesn't change.