How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Maybe […] if I'd said, "I'm so afraid of losing something I love that I refuse to love anything," maybe that would have made the impossible possible. (10.1)
Grandpa's pretty much confessing to never truly loving Grandma here. He shut himself off from love after losing Anna. If he had told Grandma this right away, well, she probably still would have married him. But maybe he wouldn't have felt like he was living a lie and had to leave.
Quote #8
"The boy covered his can with a lid, removed it from the string, and put her love for him on a shelf in his closet. Of course, he never could open the can, because then he would lose its contents. It was enough just to know it was there." (11.28)
This tale within a tale of Sixth Borough seems to have the opposite moral however. The boy traps love in a can, but he can't experience without losing it. Is love as fragile and finite as this story makes it seem?
Quote #9
They knew I was coming.
Mom had talked to all of them before I had.
Even Mr. Black was part of it. […] she probably told him to go around with me, and keep me company, and keep me safe. (15.49-51)
Oskar finally realizes that his mother has known all along about his journey and was always in the background, protecting him. We'd call that love. He recognizes it, too. At the cemetery, Oskar comes to terms with his father's death to some extent. When he gets back, he gives his Mom permission to move on with her life, maybe even fall in love again. Love wins this round.