How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
But just for one moment I think of those first nights in dorm five years ago, when Raffaela and I lay side by side and she listened to a tale that I have no memory of today about my life in the city. I'll always remember the look of horror on her face. "Taylor Markham," she had said, "I'm going to say a prayer for you." And although I wanted to mock her and explain that I didn't believe in anything or anyone, I realized that no one had ever prayed for me before. So I let her. (1.11)
Raffaela's spiritual personality is probably one thing that drew Taylor to become her friend when Taylor arrived in the dorms. Regardless of Taylor's lack of religious beliefs, her friend's compassion must have been a breath of fresh air after what she'd just been through.
Quote #2
I lie in bed and words silently tumble out of my mouth. Some people say their prayers at night. I don't. What I always say is the same. My name is Taylor Markham. I live on the Jellicoe Road. (6.54)
It may not be your traditional "Now I lay me down to sleep" bedtime prayer, but Taylor's recitation of her name and address is a prayer in and of itself. After living in chaos without any stability or consistency for the previous years of her life, it's a prayer that she will continue to develop a single identity rather than be shuffled around and renamed—a prayer that she will know who she is.
Quote #3
"I swear to God, if you go out there it will change your perspective on the world."
"Don't believe in God. Love the world just the way it is." (9.20-21)
We're not theologians, but we do wonder if Taylor's aversion to religion is related to her lack of connection with people. As a Christian, Raffaela belongs to a faith where relationships, both with God and others, form the core of her beliefs. If Taylor doesn't want to be close to people, it makes sense that she would forgo the idea of religion altogether.
Quote #4
When I walk back inside, I pass the common room and I find myself looking for a bible. Matthew chapter ten, verse twenty-six. Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered and every secret will be made known. (9.83)
Hannah picked the perfect verse to carve on the prayer tree after Webb's death. On one hand, she did it out of a desire for answers about what happened to him, but it also takes on the meaning of the unveiling of Taylor's past and the questions that will be answered in the future.
Quote #5
Do I remember what Raffaela said in the car park of the Evangelical church?
"Who do you believe in?" she had repeated as if it was the dumbest question she'd ever heard. "I believe in you, Taylor Markham." (12.145-146)
While Raffaela's religious faith is a major element of her character, her faith in her friends is another element of her spirituality. In the heat of her difficulties as a House leader and leader of the Underground Community, Taylor's able to draw strength from the fact that her best friend "believes in her."
Quote #6
It makes me want to yell at the God I wish I didn't believe in. For hogging him all to himself. I want to say, You greedy God. Give him back. I need him here. (18.46)
Along with her lack of desire to relate to people, we can totally understand why Taylor would be angry with a higher power over the death of her father—especially when he died so young and in such a senseless way.
Quote #7
"It was such a good dream," I tell Jude, wanting him to believe me, "and I wanted to stay but he threw me off the tree and then I woke up."
"You weren't asleep, Taylor," Mr. Palmer says flatly, "and you didn't faint." (25.88-89)
Whoa. Taylor died?? Apparently so—after all, an asthmatic getting near smoke from a fire isn't exactly the best combination. Since we've seen her have multiple asthma attacks when she gets stressed out up to this point, it's obvious that her condition is a proverbial gun that has to go off at some point. And it also makes for a pretty creepy spiritual moment in the book.
Quote #8
I look at Jude's face and I see it whiten and we vow never ever to tell the others. My mind that night is full of images of those kids I once saw in the newspaper cuttings on Jessa's bed and of the two who went missing from Yass on the day Jude caught up with me and Jonah. And of the voice Jonah needed to believe was his father, warning us not to go any farther because we would never come back. (27.5)
Just to recap, Taylor and Jonah were actually in a vehicle with the serial killer himself. And if Jonah hadn't dreamed about his father and acted on the message he seemed to be sending, he and Taylor probably would have become statistics on his list of victims. In this story, dreams are a major spiritual way that characters communicate with each other.
Quote #9
Jessa leans her head against her. "Hannah, do you think that your mum and dad and Tate's mum and dad and my mum and dad and Webb and Tate are all together someplace?" she asks earnestly.
I look at Hannah, waiting for the answer. And then she smiles. Webb once said that a Narnie smile was a revelation, and at this moment, I need a revelation. And I get one.
"I wonder," she says. (27.19-21)
Given the huge body count in this book, not to mention the questions about God and spirituality, it makes sense that the characters would speculate about where the loved ones they've lost have gone. Hannah's reaction in particular indicates that while she may not be able to say exactly where it is or what to call it, the place Jessa speaks of does exist.
Quote #10
So Webb closed his eyes, thinking of the dream he'd had the night before where he sat on the branch of a tree and spoke to their child. In the child's voice there was so much promise and joy that it took his breath away. (Epilogue.1)
Long before Taylor dreamed about her father, she visited Webb in a dream and told him her name. Just as the first chapter begins with Taylor encountering "the boy in the tree," the book ends by revisiting the spiritual link through dreams between her and Webb.