How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Quote #1
JOEL: Page is ripped out. Don't remember doing that. It appears this is my first entry in two years.
The whiteness of the blank pages in Joel's journal matches the bleak grayness of the sky and the empty beach. A large part of Joel's identity has been stripped away by the procedure, and he is left with a blank slate. Normally the idea of a fresh beginning is portrayed positively, but there's no doubt in this scene that Joel is feeling lost.
Quote #2
CLEMENTINE: Agent Orange! I came up with that one. I apply my personality in a paste.
JOEL: Oh, I doubt that very much.
CLEMENTINE: Well, you don't know me, so... you don't know, do you?
JOEL: Sorry. I was just... I'm trying to be nice.
CLEMENTINE: Yeah. I got it.
Agent Orange was the name of an herbicide used by the U.S. in the Vietnam War. It kills plants; it's definitely not nice. That's why Joel is politely disagreeing—but Clem is having none of it. This is the first time we really get to see their contrasting personalities: Clem admitting her faults and saying exactly what she thinks, while Joel is trying to be kind and undo her self-deprecation.
Quote #3
CLEMENTINE: So, I'm eight... and I have these toys, these dolls. My favorite is this ugly girl doll who I call Clementine. And I keep yelling at her: "You can't be ugly! Be pretty!" It's weird. Like if I can transform her, I would magically change, too.
Even Clem has her own insecurities. As a child she would displace them onto her dolls, having them take on her identity (or at least the parts of it she doesn't like) for her, helping her bear the load. Now, as an adult, she can instead rely on Joel, whose niceness, which at first repulsed Clem, now assuages her self-doubt.