October 31, 2016 - 13:59
Quote 1: "Instead I slipped on my robe and tied it tightly around my waist. It was the same mirror I'd had as a child, and I'd grown up in front of it, turning and craning my neck, searching for clues to the future. The mirror was the same, but the girl was gone, leaving only phantom limbs and a flicker of her excitements." (pg. 208)
Yumi is in a difficult situation right now. She has come back to a place where almost all of her memories are tainted because of the horrific experience that happened to her. In this quote, I think that we really see her confusion as to who she is now. She doesn't see herself as being that young girl at all. She's a totally new person. Totally cellularly replaced. Nothing remains of the child who she once was. Coming back to this house, she almost doesn't recognize herself, because she remembers what she used to be like as a child.
Quote 2: "'It is the people who write those letters who have evil minds,' Charmey said. She pointed to a picture of Lilith, buck naked and cradling a large muskmelon between her legs. 'This is not dirty. This is life!'" (pg. 235)
This quote refers to more of a conflict between people who are out of their "home" environment and those who have lived in that environment their entire lives. People who have lived in one place often just don't know of what life is like in other areas, and thus critique anything that seems foreign to them in any way. This is exactly what is happening here, and something that I want to look closer into throughout the course of the novel.
Quote 3: "Charmey leaned in clse to the screen, her face rapt and glowing, studying every detail, like this was a beautiful thing. He looked away. He couldn't bear to imagine her like a flayed animal, bucking and screaming in pain. He wanted to protect her from this, not participate in its coming." (pg. 180)
Here, we see an example of a person being torn from their environment and thrust into a new one. Frankie just experience the feeling of being with another person for the first time, and now is faced with the realization that he will be a father soon. He doesn't know if he can fulfill this new role and identity of a loving, caring father. He struggles with not only this, but also the fact that he must actually witness the birth in the first place.