How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I reached out to stop her because I thought she'd get hurt, but Agatha was already beyond my grasp. Wild pigeons are as big as crows. They fly fast and with much strength. They'll knock you off your feet and cause all sorts of damage.
Agatha, though, seemed to feel no fear. A current of pigeons flew low in the street before veering up over the roof of our store. Agatha ran toward this winged river, stopping short of collision by mere inches. Then she crouched down and edged underneath it. (2.17-18)
Wow. We like pigeons as much as the average person—because how much does the average person like pigeons, anyway?—but this seems to be taking it to a whole new level. You have to really love pigeons to want to stand under a flock of them, even with an umbrella, because those aren't raindrops falling on your head.
Quote #2
"The wise old man bowed and then rushed out of his lodge to tell the people. When he returned, the white pigeon was gone, except for one white feather that rested in the middle of the floor. The old man picked it up and studied it. As he did so, he saw another feather near a window ledge. He walked to that feather and picked it up, and saw a feather just outside. And so the wise old man walked from one feather to the next right out of his village. Feather by feather he picked out his path." (3.31)
Quote #3
Trying to guess the plans of wild pigeons is folly. The direction they go is their own business. Likewise, it's near impossible to know where they'll roost for the night, let alone build a nesting. Their movements defy theorizing and deducing (though fools persist). Pigeons come and go as they please. (6.1)
Hmm. It seems to us that trying to guess the plans of a certain determined older sister is also folly. Again we'd like to suggest you check out the "Symbols" section—we've got a bit to say about how the pigeons represent Agatha over there, and you just might find it relevant to this passage.
Quote #4
As usual, Agatha decided our direction, but I thought she went toward the river for me. She knew I liked looking at rivers anytime—winter, summer, spring, whenever. And that day near the rapids, spray froze to tree limbs and hung sharp from ledges. I put the Springfield down, found some rocks sporting five-foot icicles, and knocked the ice free. "On guard!" I yelled, holding an icicle like a sword. Agatha picked up another, and we fought, sword-fight-like, until there was nothing left but stubs. Somehow, we both ended up in the same snowbank and cackling hard. (6.15)
While Agatha's obsession with the pigeons is clear, it seems Georgie is not immune to the charms of the natural world, but her fascination lies more with the landscape and less with animals. How might these different interests demonstrate differences between the two sisters?
Quote #5
A person may become skilled at predicting cards, but not at foretelling nestings. There is no sure way to anticipate a pigeon's preferences in terms of place. Soon as you do, they'll nest two hundred miles away. Any pigeoner worth his salt will tell you the same. (6.94)
So there's just no telling what pigeons will do. If this is true, why do people invest so much time and effort in following them and in making plans that might not pan out? Silly humans.
Quote #6
The pigeons had yet to choose a place to nest, and we desperately wanted them to do so in our woods. We followed news of pigeons in the newspapers, asked the stationmaster repeatedly what he'd heard. Some rubbed their lucky rabbit foot. Others offered up plea-filled prayers. If those pigeons came back, we'd all be rich. A nesting meant weeks and weeks of barrels of pigeons to sell, and the accompanying influx of pigeoners. We in Placid would be ready to supply anything those pigeon hunters might need or want. And after the eggs hatched?There would be the babies, the acorn-fattened squabs—a delicacy for discerning big-city palates, and a moneymaker for our Placid, Wisconsin, pockets. (7.23)
There's an interesting intersection between nature and commerce here: The good people of Placid don't want the pigeons for their own sake, like Agatha, but rather for what the pigeons can bring them, which is cold, hard cash.
Quote #7
No one went hungry and that's a blessing to everybody. I am sure every table in our corner of Wisconsin held a pigeon pie (pigeons cooked in a broth, walnut catsup added, covered with a crust, and then baked twenty minutes). In addition, all those who kept their minds on working could make some money. (7.57)
This makes us want to try some pigeon pie. We're out of luck, though, because these particular pigeons are extinct. Probably because people ate too many pigeon pies.
Quote #8
I froze. My body did, anyway.
My mind, on the other hand, jumped over the moon and ran off with the spoon. It listed what it saw by every possible name. It thought the list forward: Catamount, cougar, American lion, painter, red tiger. It thought it backward: Red tiger, painter, American lion, cougar, catamount. My mind pinched the list in the middle, folded it over, and thought it again: Painter, cougar, catamount, red tiger, American lion. (9.1-2)
This is where the hunter becomes the hunted. Do you think Georgie's experience with the cougar contributes to her eventual decision to stop hunting? What evidence does the text provide for or against your position?
Quote #9
Agatha had not come home, so I told the air, the sky, the horizon (and, I suppose, Long Ears) what Agatha looked like when, parasol in hand, she spun under the pigeons: spring set free, a dance of heaven and earth, mankind and creation enjoying each other's company. (22.8)
Agatha spinning under those pigeons is probably the most powerful image in the novel. The central story is about Georgie's search for her sister, so why do you think the author places so much emphasis on Agatha's interest in pigeons? (Cough, "Symbols" section, cough.)
Quote #10
I do not even think an animal as abundant as the wild pigeons should be minus one. I say let all the earth be alive and overwhelmingly so. Let the sky be pressed to bursting with wings, beaks, pumping hearts, and driving muscles. Let it be noisy. Let it make a mess. Then let me find my allotted space. Let me feel how I bump up against every other living thing. Let me learn to spin. (24.69)
Throughout the novel, Georgie tells us that she and Agatha are very different people. Does Georgie not already know how to "spin"? Why does she conclude that she wants to be more like Agatha?