How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She got by just fine when she kept her hearing aids turned on. She didn't much. The machines were what City Services could give her, old technology that jug-handled her ears and rattled her with phone and radio static, a high-pitched whir. They sharpened and dulled everything at the same time the way water will just below the surface. But turned off and plugging up her drums, the aids screened out the world. She lived for this silky silence. (1.6)
Mik's hearing aids don't sound so hot. (See what we did there?) Even she admits that they are not the best the world currently has to offer, but it's all she can get. You'd think they'd be her worst enemy, but she prefers being in control of what and how she hears the world.
Quote #2
This was what it was all about—the sadness muted. She could live and die without hearing another people-made noise. Except that guitar. (3.9)
This wonderfully poetic description of what it's like to not hear the world seems beautiful on the surface. Except when you think about the guitar. Mik desperately wants to be able to enjoy the sound of music just like everyone else, but instead has to suffer without it.
Quote #3
She heard him in her ear, a low, distant rumble, soothing but indecipherable. She clicked on her aids. "Say again," she said. She could talk a little in front of Jimmi. He never would make fun of anybody. (6.21)
Embarrassed to talk, Mik feels like her voice sounds strange. It's great that she feels comfortable enough to talk to Jimmi, but it also reminds us how uncomfortable she feels the rest of the time. She'd rather use sign language and read people's lips than speak. And while there's nothing wrong with sign language, since she's surrounded by people who don't know or use it, it's isolating.