How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Tom] didn't feel like a hero anymore--he just felt sorry for this poor, hideous girl, and guilty at being the one who had trapped her here. (3.11)
Tom's much more likely to feel guilty than he is to feel like a hero. This is a persistent characteristic, and we'll see a lot of evidence of it as we go through here. Think about why Tom beats himself up so much. Does this possibly make him, in a way, more heroic?
Quote #2
"I don't like this slaving lark any more than you do, but times are hard." (9.21)
People seem to pass the "times are hard" buck a lot in this novel. Is "times are hard" a valid excuse for doing things that are worse than amoral? Does this excuse absolve anyone of blame?
Quote #3
"He was going to make me everything I ever wanted: no memories, no feelings. [...] Oh, why do you keep interfering?" (22.34)
"Yeah, Tom, it's all your fault Hester isn't dead. How could you?" Sorry, we're just kicking the kid while he's down, but Hester blaming him for stupid stuff doesn't help his guilt complex at all.