How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
People do not give credence that a fourteen-year-old-girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father's blood but it did not seem so strange then, although I will say it didn't happen every day. (1.1)
Things have changed in the fifty years since Mattie was a girl. Pros: Women can vote! Cons: Teenage girls can't just run off on blood-quests. Hm, sounds like a toss-up to us.
Quote #2
He had mistaken the drummers for men. "The wicked flee when none pursueth." (1.16)
Mattie has some strong ideas about how a real man should act. The drummers she's talking about don't play drums but are traveling salesmen who "drum-up" business, which apparently isn't a manly profession. (Marshaling, on the other hand, is about a dudely as you can get.)
Quote #3
The Indian was next and he said, "I am ready. I have repented my sins and soon I will be in heaven with Christ my savior. Now I must die like a man." (2.13)
Manly ways to die include hanging and being shot while trying to keep your hired hand from heading off to shoot some gamblers; unmanly ways to die include … what? Probably anything involving whining or begging.