How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Where was Incandesto when you needed him? Not that Flora really believed in superheroes. But still. (1.34)
Can superheroes really exist? That's a big question for Flora and her family. Most people want to believe in them, but know better, but for Flora, it's the opposite. She doesn't want to believe that superheroes are real, but she finds herself rooting for one all the same.
Quote #2
There was nothing he could do except to be himself, to try to make the letters on the keyboard speak the truth of his heart, to work to make them reveal the essence of the squirrel he was. But what was the truth? (19.8)
Ulysses thinks this when they ask him to type about himself. It's important to note that even he isn't sure what the truth about him is. Perhaps that's because he just got sucked up a vacuum cleaner and had a life-altering experience, or maybe it has something to do with the fact that even he is still sorting it out.
Quote #3
"The truth must be known!" said Flora. She stepped forward. She reached out her hand to remove William Spiver's glasses. (21.33)
Flora desperately wants to see if William is the arch-nemesis, and she thinks simply taking off his glasses will reveal everything. It's too bad for her, though, because the truth isn't always that simple. Sometimes you can't just remove glasses to find out what the real truth is.
Quote #4
"When I was a girl in Blundermeecen , I could read the sign before anyone else even saw the sign. Not that it helped me, seeing things clearly. Sometimes, it is safer not to see. In Blundermeecen, the words on the sign were often not the truth. (37.8)
Huh? We're not sure if Dr. Meescham is talking literally or metaphorically, but either way, we've stopped to notice. She points out to Flora that just because people tell you something is true doesn't make it so. Most people don't think a squirrel could type, but Ulysses can.
Quote #5
It's the truth," Flora said. "You told Pop to kill Ulysses." (45.1)
Flora isn't interested in her mom's stories or rationale; she just wants the truth. She knows her mom wants Ulysses gone, and she can't understand why. And what's more, she doesn't get why her mom can't just come clean.
Quote #6
She left the kitchen, and he simply sat there, unmoving. It was as if she had put a spell on him; it was as if typing the lies, the wrong words, had depleted him of all ability to act. (55.4)
When Flora's mom has Ulysses type lies, he feels guilty, but he also feels he has no choice. Even a superhero gets scared sometimes, and Phyllis is threatening him here (and even delivers on it).
Quote #7
Only at the very end did the truth appear. Two letters: F and L. That was Ulysses, she knew, trying to type her name one last time, trying to tell her that he loved her. (56.17)
Ulysses is smart to sneak those final letters in, and we think Flora is just as smart of figure out their meaning. We love that Flora and Ulysses have such a tight bond that she can tell when he's lying, even just through the words on the page.
Quote #8
I am loath, as always, to point out the obvious, but I will do it here and now for the sake of clarity. You are not me. You do not exist behind my traumatized eyeballs. I am telling the truth, my truth. I cannot see. (61.12)
When William talks about whether he can see or not, he brings up the truth. Did you notice how he doesn't say, "this is the truth," and then leave it at that? He points out that this is his truth, as though he can see could be true too. Hmm… so can he see?
Quote #9
"The truth," said William Spiver, "is a slippery thing. I doubt that you will ever get to The Truth. You may get to a version of the truth. But The Truth? I doubt it very seriously." (66.11)
Ah, William, ever the skeptic. No one wants to hear it, but he doesn't think there can be just one truth and nothing but the truth. (Don't tell Judge Judy.) William believes truth is subjective—that is, it is different to different people.
Quote #10
He would write and write. He would make wonderful things happen. Some of it would be true. All of it would be true. (68.6)
All Ulysses wants to do it write. Even if he writes lies, he still just wants to put pen (or in this case, keys) to paper. Perhaps we're supposed to think how awesome just the activity of writing is, but we can't help but focus on the idea that not everything that is written is true (except when we're doing the writing, of course).