How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"At first, I thought it was a strange kind of foreplay, but then I realized their grunts were actually insults—queer, f*****, the usual. I wasn't about to take such verbal abuse from strangers—only Joni was allowed to speak to me that way." (2.57)
Why is it acceptable for a friend to use insulting words but not a stranger? How does jokingly using derogatory language imply closeness and friendship?
Quote #2
I don't know when Infinite Darlene and I first became friends. Perhaps it was back when she was still Daryl Heisenberg, but that's not very likely; few of us can remember what Daryl Heisenberg was like, since Infinite Darlene consumed him so completely. (3.6)
Note that the "Infinite" in "Infinite Darlene" is never explained. Let's look at Paul's word choice here—what about that "consumed"? In what way might being consumed by a new identity give one a sense of being infinite? Is Darlene infinite in a way Daryl wasn't?
Quote #3
It is here that I feel the limit of our friendship. Because while Infinite Darlene feels comfortable telling me everything, I am afraid that if I tell her something, it will no longer be mine. It will belong to the whole school. (3.16)
Friends who tell your secrets are the worst. Gossip sometimes makes kids popular, though often the people doing the talking are doing it so they don't get gossiped about.
Quote #4
I was going to be his friend, and I was going to show him the possibilities. And he, in turn, would become someone I could trust even more than myself. (6.46)
How does becoming someone's friend lead to trusting them more than you trust yourself? Is it possible to feel this way—to want such a thing—if you have true self-esteem?
Quote #5
It's only after you get to know her better that you realize that somehow she's managed to encompass all her friends within her own self-image, so that when she's acting full of herself, she's actually full of her close friends, too. (7.46)
Hmm—we're not so convinced about this one. What's the difference between "encompass" and "consume"? Is Infinite Darlene's personality so big it consumed not only Daryl, but everyone else in its path? Can Infinite Darlene be friends with someone she can't consume?
Quote #6
She appeals to the part of me that yearns for instant time travel—a trip to the not-so-long-ago, when Tony, Joni and I were a band of three. (13.25)
The entirety of Boy Meets Boy takes place in just a few weeks. The rise and fall of teenage romantic relationships and friendships is often as accelerated as teenage growth itself. If your life, like Paul's, seems like constant, fast-paced drama, it's just your external circumstances keeping up with the internal ones.
Quote #7
I know Kyle will not ask anything else of me. I know I have taken some of his freak-out and made it my own. (15.31)
Instead of consuming/encompassing Kyle's identity, Paul consumed/encompassed his problem. Perhaps true friendship comes from considered rather than across-the-board consumption.
Quote #8
"You think you're such a good friend, don't you?" she snarks. "Is that why Tony's grounded and Infinite Darlene can make you do her dirty work?" (15.125)
As if Paul had no reservations about Chuck before Infinite Darlene got involved.
Quote #9
"I hate the phrase 'more than friends'," Joni told me one night not long ago. We were bundled on her couch, flipping to strange channels. "It's such nonsense. When I'm going out with someone, we're not 'more than friends'—most of the time, we're not even friends. 'More than friends' makes no sense. Look at us. There's nothing more than us." (19.29)
Joni's romantic problems are probably due to the fact that she doesn't consider her boyfriends to be her friends and that she doesn't take time to develop friendship before a relationship.
Quote #10
We are young and the night is young. We are in the middle of somewhere and we are feeling everything. (28.2)
Take a look at the repetition in this passage: the words "we are" and "young" (Pat Benatar break, forgive us) and the joining of separate sentences with the word and twice in a row. Note that Levithan's also foregoing conjunctions here—it's not "we're young," it's "we are young." Take note, friends: rhythm and beat aren't just for awesome 80s pop songs.