QUOTES+&+CONCEPTS

= QUOTES & CONCEPTS= Within your assigned chapter, share some of the quotes you have highlighted while reading that you think are important or quotes that you think need some clarification. Make sure you explain the significance of these quotes and cite the pages on which they appear.

Chapter 1, November 4, 2008 "People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life." -Lily Owens (p. 2) She says this in her bed room, while thinking about her mother. This quote reflects how sad and miseradeble she is. It gives me the impression that she thinks sometimes life can be worse than death. Being dead means no pain, and that may be more of a relief than living and being sad and miserable, and feeling pain.

"The memory of the day came back to me at odd moments. The stuck window. The smell of her. The clink of hangers. The suitcase." -Lily Owens (p. 17) This was a memory that happened a long time ago and still haunts her. She is obviously still deeply hurt from the incident. When she lists the window, smell, hangers and suitcase, it shows they are all little reminders of what happened. -F.C.

Chapter 2, November 4, 2008 "Your mother ran off and left you. The day she died, she'd come back to get her things, that's all." -T. Ray Owens (p. 40) T.Ray says this to Lily who can't seem to grasp the fact that her mother died accidentally when she was four. She is convinced that her mother loves he and is protecting her from T. Ray's punishment. T. Ray is trying to make Lily forget about her diseased parent.

//"Please, God. I didn't mean to treat her like a pet dog. I was trying to save her. That's all." -//Lily Owens (p. 54) Lil**y** says this quote in her mind while she and Rosaleen are escaping to Tiburon, South Carolina. Rosaleen inaccurately accuses her of treating her like the african american that she is, not the mother figure she has been for Lily since she was little. -J.D.

Novemer 5, 2008 Chapter 3 "Day one of my new life, that's what this is." -Lily This quote is said by Lily when she runs away from T.Ray. Telling by the words from this quote you can tell that Lily is relieved to be away from T.Ray and she is ready to start her new life on her own and she doesn't have to worry about T.Ray or his lies ever again.

"I'll take nine steps and look up. Whatever my eyes light on, that's my sign."-Lily Lily says this because she believes that a sign can guide her in the right direction. This quote sounds almost desperate because they are in hot weather and she is in desperate need to find the right place and that is why she looks for a sign. -E.P.

Chapter 4, November 5th, 2008.

"I didn't know what to think, but what I felt was magnetic and so big it ached like the moon had entered my chest and filled it up." -Lily (pg.70) Lily is thinking to herself and admiring this sculpture. She notices every detail and realizes that it is Mary even thought it didn't resemble the honey jar. She is taking a look at herself, realizing she hates herself and loves herself.

-M.A.K.

 Chapter 5, November 6, 2008

"Singing made me feel like a regular person again." –Lily (pg. 83) This quote is said when Lily and Rosaleen were staying at the Boatwright house. She was explaining how the Boatwright sisters sing the "honey song", and they taught Lily and Rosaleen the words. Lily loved the silliness of the "honey song". This song probably gave her some comfort, and she felt like a normal girl having a good time.  “I went around went around helping May catch granddaddy longlegs, not just because a smashed bug could send her over the edge but because I felt I was being loyal to my mother’s wishes.” –Lily (pg. 85) This quote was when Lily was explaining how May didn’t allow rat traps in the house, and how she could not even think of a suffering rat in her house. Lily liked May’s thinking and collecting the granddaddy longlegs because this reminded Lily of her bug-loving mother, and she wanted to be loyal to what her mother believed was right. -S.H.

Chpt. 6 November 8, 2008

"A blur passed before me. A moving wave of color. //I am not one of you.// I thought. My body felt numb. I thought of how nice it would be to grow smaller and smaller--until I was a dot of nothing. (pg. 111) This quote is said when the sisters were holding a prayer service and everyone was touch the heart of Our Lady of Chains. Lily felt segregated from everyone else because June has stopped playing the cello right as she was about to touch Mary. Earlier in the chapter LIly figures out how deep June's dislike for her is, and the fact that one of the main reasons June dislikes her is because she is white. When this quote occurs Lily feels very segregated from the rest of the group because she is white and everyone else is black.

O.K.

Chapter 7 November 12th, 2008

"//Do you think me and June Boatwright give a damn how each other is coming?"// - pg. 119 This quote gives a clear picture of the tension between Lily and June. Even though they may try to act civil towards each other and appear that they care for one another, they both feel dislike for each other and would rather not have to interact.

"What are you reading about?" I asked, thinking I was making casual conversation, but boy, was I wrong. "It's about a girl whose mother died when she was little," she said. Then she looked at me in a way that made my stomach tip over, the same way it'd tipped over when she'd told me about Beatrix. "What happens to the girl?" I asked, trying to make my voice steady. "I've only started the book," she said. "But right now she's just feeling lost and sad." - pg. 131 This portion of the chapter is important because it alerted Lily that August has a very clear idea about who she is, and no matter how hard she tries to hide it, August will be able to see the truth. E.N.

Chapter 8, November 11, 2008

"//Fix me, please fix me. Help me know what to do. Forgive me. Is my mother all right up there with God? Don't let them find us. If they find us, don't let them take me back. If they find us, keep Rosaleen from being killed. Let June love me. Let T. Ray love me. Help me stop lying. Make the world better. Take the madness out of people's hearts//." p. 164 This quote basically sums up what Lily is thinking throughout the chapter. Lily is having trouble telling the truth, accepting that T. Ray doesn't love her, and tackling with the idea that this is not going to be her life forever. Lily is thinking this while praying in front of Mary with August, May, June, and Rosaleen.

"//The mother of thousands//." p. 149 Lily has been by August told that the queen bee concives all the bees in the hive. She is the mother of thousands. In the book, all it says is Lily thinking "the mother of thousands" after August told her about the queen bee. This could be forshadowing that August is the mother of thousands, meaning she has taken in many people like Lily (maybe including Lily's mother).

- E.M. -

November 12, 2008 Chapter Nine "After you get stung, you can't get unstung no matter how much you whine about it." (Page 167) Lily thinks this quote after she gets stung by a bee for the first time. I think this quote is important because it shows a lot of maturity on Lily's part. This quote isn't just talking about bees, it's symbolic of so much more. It's saying that if you're wronged then complaining won't do you any good because you would have still have been wronged.

"I'm not sure when it sank in that May had gone off to some unreachable place inside herself." (Page 186) After May learns that Zach's been taken to jail May at first acts in a very calm manner, but then people realize that she's not all there. May stops talking and doesn't seem to be looking at anything, and it's at this point that people begin to panic. R.C.M.

November 14. 2008 Chapter Eleven //"I love this place with my whole heart." (pg.225)// Lily says this to herself as she is looking at the pink house. She sees all of the decorations for Mary Day. She also sees everyone that she has come to love sitting around tables talking and laughing.

//"We can't be together now,Lily,but,one day, after I've gone away and become somebody, I'm gonna find you, and we'll be together then."(pg.231)// Zach says this to Lily talking about their future and how they can't be a couple because he is black and she is white. He is promising to her that he won't forget about her and that someday they will be able to become boyfriend and girlfriend. -T.S.

Chapter 10, November 16, 2008

"They didn't even think of me being different." (p. 209) - Lily Owens Lily thinks this when one of the Daughters of Mary made fun of a white funeral home. She was surprised that she said that because everyone laughed at the joke and didn't even acknowledge that it could be hurtful towards Lily because she is white.

" May was saying that when it's time to die, go ahead and die, and when it's time to live, live." (p. 211) - April April is saying that you should live life to the fullest and make it worth while because you know when you're ready to die and you won't be able to appreciate life anymore. She is also hinting that May should marry Niel because it's what May would have wanted. -M.M.W

Chapter 12, November 12th, 2008: //“The first day you showed up, I took one look are you and all I could see was Deborah when she was your age. I knew Deborah had a daughter, but I thought no, you couldn’t be; it was too much to believe that Deborah’s daughter would turn up in my parlor. Then you said your name Lily and right that minute I knew who you were.” (236)// This is when August admitted to Lily that ever since she had told her her name, she had known that it was her. August used to be Lily’s mom’s nanny, and when she left T-Ray, she come to live with her. One day she went back to get Lily and never came back. Then, she assumed that she was dead. //“Unwanted, I was an unwanted baby.”// This is when Lily was told by August that her mother only married T-Ray because she was pregnant with Lily. Lily became very upset and kept thinking that she was unwanted. The truth was that once she was born, her mother loved her very much. (249) Chapter 13, November 15, 2008 "How dare she? How dare she leave me? I was her child." pg.259 Lily Owens. Lily is angry because she is thinking about her mother, and how she left her. "You are my mother. You are the mother of thousands." pg.269 Lily Owens Lily is referring to Mary, as her mother, the mother of thousands. "Well great, we spent all that time cleaning honey off her, and here they go, putting it back on." pg.268 Lily Owens Lily does not understand why they put honey on Mary, and then, take it off, to put it back on her. The reason the put honey on Mary, is because honey is preservative. They put honey on Mary, so they can preserve her an other year in their hearts.

Chapter 14, November 16, 2008 “I remember thinking that he probably loved me in his own smallish way.” Lily thought this as T. Ray drove away from her in chapter 14. This shows the biggest part of the chapter, Lily’s wanting to be loved finally feeling fulfilled. That, I think, is a really great way to end the book. Lily ends happy, with Zach and August and Rosaleen, but also knows that her father loves her, and that was always what she had wanted as a young child. F.J.

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