How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"This malfeasance must be stopped" was what the unassuming janitor Alfred T. Slipper always said before he was transformed into the amazing Incandesto and became a towering, crime-fighting pillar of light. (1.28)
Leave it to Alfred T. Slipper to set the bar for Flora when it comes to good versus evil. In fact, Flora uses this to figure out where or who the evil is in her own life, even though she doesn't live in a comic book.
Quote #2
"Of course you don't. A superhero is someone with special powers, and he uses those powers to fight the forces of darkness and evil. Like Alfred T. Slipper, who is also Incandesto." (11.20)
When she asks Ulysses if he knows what a superhero is, she explains it to him like this. To Flora, a superhero is simply someone who is fighting the crime in the world—big or small.
Quote #3
"But what else can you do?" said Flora to the squirrel. "And if you truly are a superhero, how will you fight evil?" (11.32)
Naturally, since Flora uses fighting evil as one of the tests of being a superhero, she asks Ulysses about his capability in this area. Sure Ulysses fights off a mean cat and outsmarts his arch-nemesis, but does he fight evil in the way other superheroes do?
Quote #4
It was a good (and also slightly disturbing) point. How, exactly, was a typing squirrel going to fight villains and change the world? (17.14)
Tootie doesn't think a squirrel can be a superhero, yet we also see that Ulysses might not save an entire city, but he fights evil on a small scale—in Flora's life. He saves her from a life of isolation and no love.
Quote #5
Every superhero had an arch-nemesis. What if Ulysses's arch-nemesis was William Spiver? (21.32)
It seems rational to Flora that every superhero would have an arch-nemesis. Otherwise, who would they spend their time fighting? Even though she uses different words, what she's really talking about here is good and evil; a superhero does good, while an arch-nemesis does evil. It's as simple as that.
Quote #6
Everything was coming into sharp and terrifying focus; the story was starting to make sense: Ulysses was a superhero (probably), and Phyllis Buckman was his arch-nemesis (definitely). (23.20)
Uh-oh… Flora is in a tough situation when it turns out her mom is her BBF's arch-nemesis. What's a girl to do? Yet by the end of the story, her mom and Ulysses make up. Do you think he'll get another arch-nemesis, or just focus on his poetry instead?
Quote #7
"They've been glued to my head by evil forces beyond my control." "You lie," said Flora. "Yes. No. I don't. I do. I'm engaging in hyperbole. It seems as if the glasses have been glued to my head." He lowered his voice. "Actually, I'm afraid that if I take my glasses off, the whole world will unravel." (25.31)
William needs to chill—he's talking about his glasses here, not a war. Still, in his mind, this is a war, and it's one that doesn't end for him until much later in the book.
Quote #8
"Who knows what he will do?" said Dr. Meescham. "Who knows whom he will save? So many miracles have not yet happened." (39.38)
We wish we had a positive fountain of wisdom like Dr. Meescham in our lives. It's great the way she looks at the unexpected with such hope and promise—she's pretty much completely opposite to Flora in this regard. She genuinely believes Ulysses will do good and battle evil, even though he's just a little squirrel.
Quote #9
"Do inanimate objects (couches, chairs, spatulas, etc.) absorb the energy of the criminals, the wrongdoers among whom they live?" The Criminal Element had queried in a recent issue. (42.13)
Flora wonders this about her house given the criminal activity of her mom. To be fair, her mom hasn't committed a crime yet; she's just spoken about it. But even so, Flora sees her mom as the barrier to the good things in her life, like Ulysses and her comic books.
Quote #10
"I am fine, just fine. I was saved by the squirrel." "What?" said Flora's mother. "I was attacked by Mr. Klaus. He landed on my head." (44.21)
Here's an example of the evil our favorite squirrel fights off. And while saving someone from a cat isn't exactly the same as saving someone from falling off a building, we do have to admit that the cat is pretty evil. Everyone knows it lurks in the shadows, waiting to pounce.