How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The Reverend Pike spoke of the Christian message of death and rebirth, working in a story of his own heartrending loss when his college football team failed to clinch the division title. (3.82)
At school, the teachers and students attempt to deal with their grief over Cecilia's death, but everyone's a little misguided. The Reverend Pike tries to remind everyone that Christians believe in life after death to give them hope, but seriously—he's comparing his football team's loss to the tragedy that's on everyone's minds? It's an example of the general cluelessness that we see in the community at large when trying to deal with the Lisbon tragedies. Religion isn't much help.
Quote #5
Their loose dresses reminded Kevin Head of choir robes. "They didn't seem to notice, though. Personally, I think they liked their dresses. Or else they were just so happy to be going out they didn't care what they wore. They looked great." (3.134)
Another example of the juxtaposition of religious and sexual imagery in the novel.
Quote #6
It was church music, a selection from among the three albums Mrs. Lisbon liked to play over and over again on Sundays. We knew about the music from Cecilia's diary ("Sunday morning. Mom's playing that crap again"), and months later, when they were moving out, we found the albums in the trash they put at the curb. (3.207)
When Lux comes home late after the Homecoming Dance, the church music blaring from the house is a message from her mother that she's in deep trouble. The fact that Mrs. Lisbon ditches these treasured albums when she moves out of town might be a hint that her faith has been irreparably shaken by the deaths of her daughters.