How we cite our quotes: Chapter.Paragraph
Quote #1
"Hey," he said. "There ain't no dance classes."
"Huh?" My mouth dropped open.
"You understand? As far as Gigi knows, there ain't no dance classes." (4.75-77)
Granddaddy Opal is obviously trying to be tongue-in-cheek here, but for a girl who struggles with knowing whether she's real or not, it's not exactly the greatest choice of words. As a result, Miracle goes on to fear the imaginary eraser that chases after her on her way home from dance.
Quote #2
"I guess we'll just go on pretending I don't even know you," he said, bending down to help me pick up his tools, his voice calming down again. "Even though you're living under my roof all the day long. We'll just pretend and say nothing to her. Long as we ain't saying nothing, we ain't bringing it to her mind, and she don't have to do nothing about it." (6.30)
Granddaddy Opal and Miracle have a pretty cool relationship, but it's kind of chilling to think that Gigi is so absent and oblivious that she doesn't even know it. Like the lie about the dance classes, the fact that Miracle's most significant family relationship is also a lie to Gigi puts a lot of cracks in the otherwise solid foundation that Opal's trying to build for her.
Quote #3
"They have to believe I'm different," [Gigi] said. "That I don't eat or sleep or go to the bathroom like normal people. They don't want to see me walking around town in a pair of jeans licking on an ice cream cone. Someone like that wouldn't be able to contact the spirit world. Understand? They have to believe it's possible. They have to believe or it won't work." (8.1)
We think we can all agree that Gigi's worldview here is ridiculous—everyone sleeps, goes to the bathroom, eats ice cream, and wears pants—but in the delusional world of Gigi Land, this makes perfect sense. She's so obsessed with projecting a specific image that nobody—not even her family, and perhaps not even herself—knows who she really is.