How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
There's a saying I heard once: Nothing happens. Nothing happens. Then everything happens. (1.17)
Shmoop happens to know this isn't a saying; it's a quote (well, verbatim, anyway). It's from novelist Fay Weldon's memoir, Auto da Fay.
Quote #2
Among the unwanted side effects of the Big Everything that happened was that I found myself transformed. My life, as I'd known it, was over. (1.19)
The Big Everything, of course, is September 11, which changed the lives of all Americans. That's why Bart calls it the Big Everything—nothing remained untouched.
Quote #3
None of my friends, or the kids I knew from before, treated me like the same person, and the new teachers hadn't known me long enough to know what kind of person I was. (2.35)
Bart doesn't want his friends to treat him differently after his father's death. Too much has changed too fast, and he wishes his friendships would remain familiar.
Quote #4
I asked her if, considering how recently I'd lost my dad, she honestly thought I was ready to take on a possibly hostile new environment, to make a major change I didn't want to make. (4.21)
Whoa. Bart played the dad card… and it didn't work. Bummer for Bart.
Quote #5
What had happened to Mom—to us both—would never just go away. Life would never be the same for her, she might never completely recover. (4.171)
Often Bart seems more in tune with his mom's feelings than his own. Through her, he realizes he'll be forever changed by his father's death.
Quote #6
I was starting to wonder if maybe I wasn't the same person. I definitely wasn't the Bart they used to know. (5.9)
Bart is slowly coming to terms with the idea that he has changed.
Quote #7
I didn't want Mom to have a boyfriend. I couldn't handle any more changes. (7.13)
In a time of great upheaval, Bart craves sameness and familiarity. It's a pretty classic response to sweeping change.
Quote #8
I had changed, I had really changed. And not for the better. (7.39)
Bullyville rejects the idea that dealing with death somehow makes you a better or a stronger person. Instead dealing with death changes you (or Bart, anyway) for the worse.