How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The territory wars have been a part of the Jellicoe School's life ever since I can remember. I don't know who started them […] All I know is that they began sixteen years ago because that's what the Little Purple Book says. In it the founders wrote down the rules, the maps, the boundaries. (3.1)
Forget about Spirit Week, the prom, and bizarre initiations for sports teams—the Jellicoe School has a war. All other school traditions can just take a backseat right now.
Quote #2
Every student knows that the leader has been chosen in year seven and is groomed for the next five years. But every year we have elections and pretend that the House leaders and School leader have been elected by the people for the people. (3.5)
The political intricacies of the territory wars are fascinating. Apparently, part of the tradition includes sham elections and shady politics. Kind of like real wars.
Quote #3
But it's the trunk that fascinates me the most. There are carvings and symbols and messages and history […] The messages are everything rolled into one. Wise and uncool. Profound and repugnant. (9.26-27)
The original five may have just been trying to express themselves when they carved the first markings on the Prayer Tree, but in doing so, they started a Jellicoe tradition. In the last two decades, kids have taken to declaring their love for each other, writing song lyrics, and expressing their prejudices on the trunk of the tree in the clearing.
Quote #4
I remember the Prayer Tree and all those names and scratchings, everyone one of them with its own story, and I wonder where they all are now. Is Bronnie still in love with any of those boys? Does Jason still have so much hate? Do any of them still think about their time on the Jellicoe Road? (9.81)
Bronnie and Jason never met the original five and they likely didn't care to find out where the tradition of carving into the tree trunk started. But in a way, the tradition of the Prayer Tree becomes corrupted in the same way the war does: While the five carved their names and favorite song lyrics, Jason now carves hateful, racist expressions.
Quote #5
But most of the time I wonder how much Hannah is a part of this story and this school. Was she the leader of a community who thought she was weak and usurped her first opportunity they got? Did she experience a coup at the hands of a Richard-like, fascist-loving, backstabbing creep? And where did she get this idea that there was peace between the Townies and Cadets and us? (10.8)
Taylor's always believed that she and Hannah have some kind of shared background, but one thing she knows for sure is that both have experienced the rituals and traditions of the Jellicoe School. One thing's kind of weird, though—the fact that in her book, the three factions get along. Obviously there's a big hole in the story that Taylor isn't aware of… yet.
Quote #6
"This is how the territory wars have always been fought," he says firmly. "It's in the handbook. Do you think they're just about threats and 'don't walk on our boundaries?' It's hand-to-hand combat. Someone is always going to lose […] The only thing is that for the past four years the leaders have been male." (13.59)
Ouch. Hand-to-hand combat, fierce competition, and apparent sexism? Yeah, the territory wars are hardcore—even if they weren't meant to be that way.
Quote #7
She scoffs at the idea. "No one in this town locks their doors, plus we can hotwire."
There must be another confused look on my face because she explains. "It's one of those Townie stories. Too long and insignificant, but being taught to hotwire has been pretty valuable." (16.13-14)
Outside the territory wars, each faction has a subculture that contains traditions of its own. Apparently the Townies' tradition is learning the preliminary steps to grand theft auto.
Quote #8
"Webb," I say. "He began the territory wars," I tell them. "But it was a joke. I mean, his best friends were Cadets and Townies and the only reason the boundaries came about was because they were bored and just wanted to hang out with each other." (21.72)
So to recap, the territory wars—which are pretty violent, cutthroat, and bloodthirsty—started out as a "joke." It was a game that eventually transformed into something about as far from the founders' original purpose as it could get. Then again, we can see how the intentions of the game could be misinterpreted—after all, setting up boundaries seems like a bizarre way to "hang out with each other."
Quote #9
"What are you so sad about?" Santangelo says to me. "We're going to know him for the rest of our lives." (26.81)
In the grand tradition of the Jellicoe Road Five, Taylor, Santangelo, Jonah, Jessa, and Raffaela have formed their own band of brothers and sisters. Luckily, we're pretty sure their story is going to end differently than that of Webb and the rest of the crew.
Quote #10
So we scatter her ashes with Fitz's from the Prayer Tree and in the summer we finish a journey my father and Hannah began almost two decades ago. Jude arranges a house by the ocean with Griggs and his brother and Chaz and Raffy and Jessa and Narnie and me. (27.15)
What began as a family vacation that was derailed by tragedy has now become a family pilgrimage in honor of those they lost. Will they make it a yearly thing? We hope so.