How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
The doctors had told Mrs. Hopewell that with the best of care, Joy might see forty-five. (19)
That "best of care" is being provided by Mrs. Hopewell. For all her faults, she loves her daughter and dutifully takes care of her. Even though Hulga is nasty and mean to her, Mrs. Hopewell stays kind and patient.
Quote #2
"Listen […], don't you think some people was meant to meet on account of what all they got in common and all? Like they both think serious thoughts and all?" (39)
We wonder if Manley is sincere at this point. Does he think he and Hulga could be soul mates, or is he just playing with her mind to get to her leg?
Quote #3
She looked up and down the empty highway and had the furious feeling that she had been tricked, that he had only meant to make her walk […] after the idea of him. (92)
This passage makes it pretty clear that Hulga was attached to meeting Manley, and had ideas of love and romance in her head, even if she didn't admit it to herself.
Quote #4
He mumbled about loving her and about knowing when he first seen her that he loved her. (112)
Hulga thinks he sounds like a kid talking to his mother. What are we to make of all this? Does Manley love Hulga like a mother at this moment? Does he love her for real? Is all this part of his increasingly strange act? Since we don't ever get his point of view, it's hard to know.
Quote #5
"In a sense, if you use the word loosely, you might say that. But it's not a word I use. I don't have illusions." (115)
This is how Hulga responds to Manley's request for a pledge of her love, which as you know, she gives him in just a moment. It seems that much of her philosophy is simply a defense against heartbreak. Too bad it doesn't work