Memory and the Past Quotes in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Page 4

This sentence is pretty clever. Elphaba may not have told a lie to another person, but she's certainly lied to herself over the years, or at least been in severe denial. (Just think of Liir.)

Elphaba starts asking herself more and more questions as the novel progresses. This helps demonstrate her increasingly tense and uncertain state of mind.

The contrast between the two women here is really evident on a stylistic level. The "sensible" Nanny speaks in clear, brief sentences. Melena, on the other hand, is described with longer sentences that include short, choppy clauses and very evocative descriptions and actions.