How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"You're not my mother." I say that to her every time I want to hurt her and every time I expect her to retaliate.
"No, I'm not." She sighs. "But for the time being, Taylor, I'm all you have." (2.22-23)
It's moments like this that make Jellicoe Road so darn fun to reread. Knowing the promise Hannah made to Tate makes Taylor's hurtful statement resonate even more. While Hannah probably wishes she could be more of a mother to Taylor, her promise to her best friend ultimately carries more weight.
Quote #2
From the day Hannah picked me up from that 7-Eleven I knew I meant more to her. That we were somehow connected. (6.45)
It seems like in spite of Hannah and Jude's best efforts to hide the past from Taylor, she nonetheless senses that there's something more to the story than what she's being told. We suppose it would be hard to keep a kid from thinking this, especially since Hannah's car pulls up at the gas station just moments after Tate leaves.
Quote #3
Sometimes after we had been working all day on the house, Hannah and I would sit up here and just talk. She never spoke much about her family except a few times in this room. If I asked her anything about them she'd just say they were all gone and that if she allowed herself to give in to the whole sadness of it, she'd never ever be able to operate like a normal persona again. (10.7)
This is another one of those passages that takes on greater meaning once you know the whole story. As a teenager, Hannah did give into the sadness of losing her family, and just as she says here, she was barely able to function. It's interesting to see how getting older and caring for other kids in need at the school has helped her distance herself from her feelings, for better or worse.