Bastard Out of Carolina Suffering Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

She knows, I thought, she knows what it is to want what you are never going to have. (11.94)

Bone is referring to Shannon Pearl here. What Bone wants in this case is to be a gospel singer. But what does Shannon want?

Quote #8

How long had it been since I had seen Mama not tired, not sad, not scared? Forever. It seemed like forever. (14.14)

A better question might be, do we ever see Anney not tired, sad, or scared? Do we ever see her carefree and happy? If so, when? And then what changes it? Is this considered suffering in the novel? Why or why not? Should it be?

Quote #9

Everything felt hopeless. He looked at me and I was ashamed of myself. It was like sliding down an endless hole, seeing myself at the bottom, dirty, ragged, poor, stupid. But at the bottom, at the darkest point, my anger would come and I would know that he had no idea who I was, that he never saw me as the girl who worked hard for Aunt Raylene, who got good grades no matter how often I changed schools, who ran errands for Mama and took good care of Reese. I was not dirty, not stupid, and if I was poor, whose fault was that? (14.20)

Which Bone is this passage referring to—Bone the girl going through all of this in the story, or Bone the narrator looking back on her life and reflecting? Maybe the first option: she uses the world "would," which suggests that something hasn't happened yet and might not happen for sure.