How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He was filthy but all right. He hopped his board and slalomed the back alley trash into the street and the thickening gray of the afternoon rain. "Hallelujah," he said, opening himself to the thunderstorm. Jimmi Sixes was on a mission. He had to know: Was life worth living? (4.8)
We couldn't have put Jimmi's inner struggle better ourselves. The guy is in a lot of emotional pain and dealing with depression, but his plight goes way beyond suffering. He's searching for answers to life's big questions.
Quote #2
He closed his eyes but still saw her, would always see her. Why didn't he grab her as she skipped past him? Could he have stopped her from detonating that IED? What would have happened if he never signed on for overseas action, if he stayed home to be with his lady? Would he have saved his baby that night? Saved Julyssa? (8.9)
The little girl with the bomb makes Jimmi question every decision he's ever made. He wishes his life took a different route, and he can't help wondering whether his whole life could have turned out differently if he hadn't gone to war.
Quote #3
He flashed back to the desert and his armored tank rolling over towns held together by mortar thinned with dust and husk, everything ancient, so durable and fragile at the same time. (11.4)
The contrast of an ancient place with modern technology makes Jimmi think about—duh—the meaning of life. He thinks about how we are all from an ancient race (read: humans) but living in the modern world. That's deep, Jimmi.