How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He [Houdini] learned that she had called for him moments before her death. [...] He was tormented with guilt. He was obsessed with the idea that she had wanted to tell him something, that she had something to tell him that she could reveal only then, at the moment of her death. (27.9)
Talk about a mama's boy, right? This is the beginning of Houdini's death wish, and his obsession with death and the afterlife. Can he find out what she wanted to tell him? Is there some way she can still communicate with him? For the rest of his days, Houdini would hold out hope that somehow his mother would tell him what she couldn't before she died. No kidding.
Quote #8
Is the goddamn Ford your justice? said Younger Brother. Is your execution your justice? Coalhouse looked at him. As for my execution, he said, my death was determined the moment Sarah died. (38.17)
Don't mess with a man who's already decided he's going to die—he's got nothing to lose. Getting justice for the vandalism of his car isn't what this is about, and not even Booker T. Washington can understand that. Life isn't worth living for Coalhouse now that Sarah is gone.
Quote #9
Shortly after these adventures Pierpont Morgan suffered a sudden decline in health. [...] But he was far from unhappy, having concluded that his physical deterioration was exactly the sign for which he had been waiting. He was so urgently needed again on earth that he was exempt from the usual entombment rituals. (40.17)
Hey, if you thought you were part of a special class of people reincarnated every few generations for the benefit of mankind, you might view your death the same way.