How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
My mother looked at the thumb and said, in a very slow and controlled voice, as if she were issuing instructions for bomb-defusing, "Your dad was here. He said he doesn't love me anymore. He hasn't loved me for ten years. He's going to live in Phoenix now." (6.21)
When Pearl's dad leaves, everyone is surprised—including Pearl's mom. It's our first glimpse into the love theme in the novel as Pearl realizes that love doesn't last forever. It might seem like chocolates and roses most of the time, but that can turn into emptiness pretty quickly when it disappears.
Quote #2
If you ask a computer to tell you the French translation for "making love," you get "fabrication de l'amour," which is what Robby and I had called sex ever since: fabricating. (13.56)
We can't think of a better way to explain love in the book than to use the word "fabrication," meaning something that is fake. It seems like everyone is good at faking love. That's why it's so tricky to figure out whether people are genuine and trustworthy in love or not.
Quote #3
Looking back, I see that I was beginning my practice with lies, preparing unconsciously for the day four months in the future when the fire would jump from tree to tree and roof to roof and I would head straight to the woods, to Amiel, to a house no fireman would think to defend but where all that I had come to love was in danger of burning alive. (18.23)
Cue the dramatic music. When Pearl tells us that everything she loves is in danger of being burned, we hope she's talking metaphorically. As it turns out, though, she's not. The fire claims her uncle's life, and comes close to Pearl and Amiel, too.