How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The dream took place in the courtroom. I was trying to ask questions and nobody could hear me. I was shouting and shouting but everyone went about their business as if I wasn't there. (5.9)
Sounds like Steve's insides—he wants to be heard and understood, but nobody cares what he has to say. His fate is out of his hands, his future resting with the jury. Yikes. We're not sure this is a dream so much as a nightmare.
Quote #2
He don't hang with nobody. He's just a lame looking for a name. Ain't that right, Steve? Ain't that right? (6.93)
What a bully. He deserves a wet jellyfish for a Pillow Pet.
Quote #3
When I looked at the kids in the class, they turned away from me quickly.
I sat down and looked straight ahead. It was easy to imagine myself sitting where they were sitting, looking at the back of the prisoner. (7.26-27)
In some ways, Steve feels like a criminal, but in other ways, he feels like an innocent kid. While there is literal significance to this—he's on trial, after all—it also mirrors the difficulty of growing up, of standing in the middle of your teen years with one foot in childhood and one in adulthood.