How we cite our quotes: (Page.Paragraph)
Quote #1
My mother was not dead. She lay in her bed, but I could not see her. Uncle Yaakov had been in an accident, my father explained. A car accident. In Detroit. While traveling for the Rebbe. (14.2)
When Rivkeh finds out her brother has been killed in a car accident, she is nearly destroyed by grief. Her grief is so profound because he was her only brother, and because family is extremely important to her. These values are instilled in Asher from an early age, and they guide him throughout the remainder of the book.
Quote #2
'Your father doesn't know what to do with you, Asher.' (112.2)
Uncle Yitzchok says this to Asher during Passover seder, when Asher is freaking out about having to move with his parents to Vienna. His behavior is confusing and obnoxious to the adults around him, who believe that it is the duty of a good child to be loyal to their parents. Maybe that's why they're not sure if Asher's talent was a gift from the devil.
Quote #3
'Asher,' my mother said. 'You are being disrespectful to your father. Kibud ov, Asher. Remember, kibud ov. (129.18)
In Hebrew, kibud ov means "parental honor." You may have heard this quote from the Old Testament: "Honor thy mother and father." Same meaning. Rivkeh's invoking this against Asher because he wasn't listening to Aryeh.
Quote #4
'When a son goes so far away from the father, there can only be trouble.' (196.6)
This is the abiding principle of the tension between Aryeh and Asher, and something that haunts Asher throughout the book. Asher is made to believe that he is disobeying his father by living his life as an artist.
Quote #5
I wondered what they talked about during all those days of travel. Russian Jews? The yeshivos my father was bringing to life? Their strange son? My father's certainty of the trouble I would one day bring upon them? (263.3)
Asher dwells on his parents' thoughts while they're in Vienna and he's living with his Uncle Yitzchok stateside. The geographical distance here also creates an emotional distance between Asher and his parents, which is difficult to repair even after they return home.
Quote #6
'They are your parents. You should be with your parents.' (279.8)
Jacob Kahn says this to Asher after Asher tells him he's relenting and going to visit his parents in Vienna. The quote is pretty self-explanatory—and anxiety-inducing for Asher, who's done a pretty shoddy job of being a son as far as the other characters in the book are concerned.
Quote #7
They had lived years without me. Not they possessed a language of shared experience in which I was nonexistent. (291.1)
Asher on his parents coming home from Vienna. Isn't there a Dixie Chicks song about this?
Quote #8
I remembered my grandfather, the scholar, the recluse, the dweller in the study halls of synagogues and academies of learning. What had transformed him from recluse and scholar to emissary of the Rebbe's father? (323.4)
Asher wonders about his grandfather and how he transformed into the wandering scholar he eventually became before being murdered by drunken peasants. His grandfather's life is of particular importance to him because it was his unfinished scholarly work that Aryeh has decided to complete—and that Asher is neglecting to complete by becoming an artist.
Quote #9
I painted swiftly in a strange nerveless frenzy of energy. For all the pain you suffered, my mama. For all the anguish this picture of pain will cause you. (329.1)
Asher thinks this as he's painting the Brooklyn Crucifixion series, demonstrating how the painting is more or less dedicated to his parents, even though he knows it's going to enrage them.
Quote #10
I turned in the seat and looked out the rear window of the cab. My parents were still watching me through our living room window. (369.2)
This is the last sentence of the book, and it communicates how estranged Asher has become from his family. He is leaving Brooklyn and setting out for a new place where he won't be despised for his art. But who says you can't go home? Asher's family & Rabbi say so, unfortunately.