How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Personally I'd like to get a whole new everything, except my books of course, they are part of my life. [….] Even now I'm not really sure which parts of myself are real and which parts are things I've gotten from books. (7.2)
We'd like to argue that those aspects of yourself that you've gotten from books are real. Why not? Books color your view on life, expand your horizons, and broaden perspectives, but they don't change who you are fundamentally. Their influence doesn't need to be kept as a separate reality, so it's kind of strange Alice feels the need to differentiate, isn't it?
Quote #2
I've lived in this room all my fifteen years, all my 5,530 days. I've laughed and cried and moaned and muttered in this room. I've loved people and things and hated them. It's been a big part of my life, of me. Will we ever be the same when we're closed in by other walls? Will we think other thoughts and have different emotions? Oh, Mother, Daddy, maybe we're making a mistake, maybe we'll be leaving too much of ourselves behind! (12.1)
This is another example of Alice being a little melodramatic. She's wrapping her sense of identity up with her physical room, which is a bit silly. Sure, things will be different at the new house, but she'll still be her. (And she took the time to calculate how many days she'd lived in that room? Girl needs a better hobby.)
Quote #3
I barely made it in our old town where I knew everybody and they knew me. I've never even allowed myself to think about it before, but I really haven't much to offer in a new situation. Oh dear God, help me adjust, help me be accepted, help me belong, don't let me be a social outcast and a drag on my family. (20.2)
Alice's identity is so tied into what she thinks other people think about her that when she moves, she loses all sense of self. It doesn't help that her self-esteem is lower than the limbo pole at a party for toddlers.
Quote #4
Well, like oil and water, I can't quite adapt or fit. Every so often I even seem to be on the outside just looking in on my own family. How can I possibly be such a dud when I come from this gregarious, friendly, elastic background? (24.1)
See, this is what we're talking about with the low self-esteem: Alice doesn't identify with her family, and sees herself as this awful outcast—but is her sense of self true to reality?
Quote #5
I feel grown-up. I am no longer in the category with the children, I am one of the adults! And I love it! They have accepted me as an individual, as a personality, as an entity. I belong! I am important! I am somebody! (119.1)
Sometimes we need words, and sometimes we just need links. So without further comment, click here.
Quote #6
I'm glad I'm a girl. I even like having my periods. I guess I never wanted to be a boy. A lot of girls do wish they were boys, but not me. It's hard to believe that at one point I was so screwed up I didn't know what I was. Oh, I wish I could wipe away all that rotten past. (182.1)
We don't know many women who like having their periods, so good for you, Alice. This is also one of the only times Alice admits to even a smidgen of confidence and satisfaction with herself. It's also interesting that our rare glimpse of her contentment with who she is connects to her gender identity, seeing as we spend a lot of the time reading about her insecurity about sexuality.
Quote #7
It's strange that a big high school like this can be divided into two completely different worlds which seem to know nothing about each other. Or are there many worlds? Is the school actually like a minor galaxy, with a little world for each minority group and one for the poor kids and one for the rich kids, and one for the dopers, or maybe even one for the privileged dopers and one for the dopers who come from not so wealthy backgrounds? All of us being completely unaware of the other worlds until a person tries to step from one sphere to the other. Is that the sin? Or is the real problem in trying to get back to the original globe? (233.1)
We feel like Alice would have benefitted from this clip taken from the definitive authority on all things high school.
Quote #8
Anyway, this morning I was reading an article on identity and responsibility, and it said that kids who aren't allowed to make any decisions for themselves never grow up, and kids who have to make all the decisions before they're ready never grow either. I don't think I fall into either category but it's an interesting idea. (283.1)
We wish she had expanded on this idea a bit further. If she doesn't fall into either category, where does she fall? Does she think that she's more capable of growth so she falls somewhere in the middle, and thus both options are too polarized? Or maybe she's outside the spectrum altogether? What do you think?
Quote #9
Why is life so difficult? Why can't we just be ourselves and have everyone accept us the way we are? Why can't I just be me as I am now and not have to concentrate and fume and get upset about my past and my future. (288.3)
These are all good questions, and we wish Alice had been able to live a bit longer so she could gain the maturity that allows people to know that they can just be themselves. Haters gonna hate, so why bother trying to make other people happy when happiness lies in being true to yourself?