How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Mattie started up the machine, which made the front tires of Roger's Toyota spin around, and after a minute she lay down on one shoulder and adjusted something under the front. She didn't get that dirty, either. I had never seen a woman with this kind of know-how. It made me feel proud, somehow. In Pittman if a woman had tried to have her own tire store she would have been run out of business. That, or the talk would have made your ears curl up like those dried apricot things. (3.73)
Well lookie dat, a lady who knows how to work a truck. Taylor's Mama gave her a good example of a strong and independent woman, but Mattie impresses Taylor even more by seeming so at ease in a conventionally "masculine" role. Whereas Alice Greer cleaned houses for a living—conventionally "feminine" work—Mattie has the skill and confidence to run a business in automotive care. More than any other woman Taylor has known, Mattie shows her that women can do more than clean, nurse, serve, type, or file. And that's just in the workforce—in "real" life she can be plenty strong, too.
Quote #8
"What's so funny?" Lou Ann wanted to know. "I hope I can even fit into this dress. I should have tried it on first. I haven't worn it since before Dwayne Ray." I had noticed that Lou Ann measured many things in life, besides her figure, in terms of Before and After Dwayne Ray. (7.76)
Why does Taylor make note of the fact that Lou Ann measures her life in terms of "Before and After Dwayne Ray"? Is Lou Ann simply using a memorable event to help her keep track of time, or is Taylor suggesting that there's something self-damaging about the way Lou Ann defines herself in relation to her child?
Quote #9
"Did you get up in the middle of the night to do the feeding and diapering?"
"No," he said, smiling a little.
"I can't believe I'm even asking you that. Does it hurt you a lot to talk about Ismene?"
"At first, but not so much now. What helps me the most is to know her life is going on somewhere, with someone. To know she is growing up." (9.78-81)
After Esperanza attempts to commit suicide, Estevan tells Taylor about their daughter, Ismene, who was stolen by Guatemalan authorities. Their conversation reveals how differently Estevan and Esperanza have reacted to the loss: whereas Esperanza is still too distraught to cope, Estevan finds ways to go on. But does that have to do with gender roles, too? Given what he says about not doing the feeding and diapering, what can we infer about his and Esperanza's different relationships with their infant child?