Bullyville Grief Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

It was bad enough that Dad might be dead—that he probably was dead. But it was worse to still feel my anger at him mixed in with the shock and sorrow. (2.13)

Bart's dad left Bart and his mom six months before he died—ouch—and Bart's still angry about the whole abandonment thing. Alas, this only complicates his grief.

Quote #2

We almost didn't have to mention him, because we had this secret that partway protected us from our own grief, and from the river of grief that was flowing all around us, and everywhere, in those days. (2.17)

Bart loses his father in the attacks on September 11. But his sorrow isn't purely private; the American public is grieving, too, everywhere Bart turns.

Quote #3

When people saw us in the street, or in a shop, sometimes even in the mall, I could see them trying to arrange their faces into what they thought was the correct way to express their sympathy. (2.30)

Bart's father's death has turned him into a celebrity of sorts. He's self-conscious about all the attention he receives, though, and finds it hard to grieve when you're in the public eye.