How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Certain whims he had ridiculed in Alice were now his own. Why? (2.8.8)
After Alice's death, Biff takes on some of her feminine qualities, and we never get a real explanation for it. Perhaps that's because Biff himself doesn't really understand his new habits and whims. Sometimes, he seems downright ashamed of them.
Quote #8
It was like her head was broke off her body and thrown away. And her eyes looked up straight into the blinding sun while she counted something in her mind. And then this was the way.
This was how it was. (2.11.99-100)
Mick seems almost dissociated from her body when she loses her virginity. It's a huge moment for the teenage girl, but she seems too young to process it properly, as if her body has grown up before her mind has.
Quote #9
They both took off their bathing-suits. Harry had his back to her. He stumbled and his ears were red. Then they turned toward each other. Maybe it was half an hour they stood there – maybe not more than a minute.
Harry pulled a leaf from a tree and tore it to pieces. "We better get dressed." (2.11.85-86)
This scene focuses on the emotional content and the small details of Harry and Mick's encounter, rather than the big picture of what is actually happening. As it turns out, this is pretty much how the novel deals with sex overall – with averted eyes.