How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. (1)
From the first word, "Eleven" introduces the reader to its unique take on the coming-of-age theme. Basically, you are all of your ages and experiences combined together. That's a pretty cool way to look at it. But, on the other hand, it also means a part of you will always be your eight-year-old self forever. Or worse—thirteen-year-old you. The horror!
Quote #2
Like some days you might say something stupid, and that's the part of you that's still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama's lap because you're scared, and that's the part of you that's five. (2)
In addition to having ten-year-old you hanging out forever, sometimes he or she will pop out and you'll act ten years old again. In other words, who you were and who you are never truly goes their separate ways. Rachel doesn't seem too fond of this idea, but when you're twenty-five and watching cartoons on Saturday morning with a bowl of cereal, you might start to see the benefit of being forever young.
Quote #3
You don't feel eleven. Not right away. It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes even months before you can say Eleven when they ask you. And you don't feel smart eleven, not until you're almost twelve. That's the way it is. (4)
Most children feel eleven the moment they turn eleven, but Rachel shows some thoughtfulness here. She doesn't feel eleven until she has actually lived more of her eleventh year. In Rachel's mind, you don't turn eleven; you have to live it. And that makes for a pretty deep eleven year old.
Quote #4
Today I wish I was one hundred and two instead of eleven because if I was one hundred and two I'd have known what to say when Mrs. Price put the red sweater on my desk. (5)
Rachel associates getting older with authority and knowing what to do in a situation. Part of the irony of this story is that people who are closer to that age know this isn't always the case. Well, they should know it at any rate.
Quote #5
"Of course it's yours," Mrs. Price says. "I remember you wearing it once." Because she's older and the teacher, she's right and I'm not. (11)
Mrs. Price makes the same mistake as Rachel and assumes being right and being older go hand-in-hand. Again, this isn't necessarily the case. Younger people can be just as right as an older person. The only prerequisite for being correct is, well, being correct. Spoiler: Mrs. Price is totally not correct here.
Quote #6
I don't know why but all of a sudden I'm feeling sick inside, like the part of me that's three wants to come out of my eyes, only I squeeze them shut tight and bite down on my teeth real hard and try to remember today I am eleven, eleven. (12)
As we'll see with the next three quotes, age and eyes go together in "Eleven." Eyes act like mirrors for Rachel, expressing whatever age she is at that moment. Notice that to prevent others from seeing three-year-old Rachel, she has to squeeze those peepers shut tight.
Quote #7
This is when I wish I wasn't eleven, because all the years inside of me – ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one – are pushing at the back of my eyes when I put one arm through one sleeve of the sweater that smells like cottage cheese, […]. (18)
Rachel wishes she wasn't eleven, but this passage seems to suggest that being older wouldn't really help her here. After all, older simply means she'd have more years pushing to get out and away from the cottage cheese smell.
Quote #8
I wish I was invisible but I'm not. I'm eleven and it's my birthday today and I'm crying like I'm three in front of everybody. (14)
Earlier, it was mentioned that when her mother cries, Rachel comforts her by saying it was only the three-year-old side coming out. From this, we can tell that Rachel doesn't necessary think it's a bad thing to occasionally be three. So what's different here? Whereas Rachel's mother cried at home, Rachel is crying at school. This might suggest that coming-of-age is more about social acceptance than truly changing who you are.
Quote #9
I wish I was anything but eleven, because I want today to be far away already, far away like a runaway balloon, like a tiny o in the sky, so tiny-tiny you have to close your eyes to see it. (22)
By the story's end, Rachel pines for adulthood so childhood will be further away. At one hundred and two, the embarrassing moments of her eleventh birthday will be just a memory, like a balloon lost to the sky. This may be true, but as we've already seen, eleven-year-old Rachel will always be a part of Rachel. Even if she has to close her eyes to see it, it'll still be there.