How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
On Friday, Grandfather Bolte handed me the newly cleaned Springfield. "That's a good rifle. You, Georgie, have got the touch for it. You're as good a shot as I've ever seen." (5.15)
Aw, this makes us sniffle a little. Grandfather Bolte not only recognizes Georgie, but he gives her a vote of confidence in her skills.
Quote #2
Most people shoot pigeons with a shotgun—No. 8 pellets. A single cartridge of pigeon shot is filled with hundreds of tiny balls. Those pellets spray outward, so a single shot can garner several birds. But I wasn't after a pigeon pie; I wanted to show skill at shooting. Grandfather Bolte and I were keeping track of what I shot with the ammunition I used, and to shoot a bird with a single bullet is difficult—even a bird as large as the big male in front of me. I estimated that bird at a full seventeen inches head to tail. He'll do fine, I thought. (6.43)
Now we know what to do if we ever want pigeon pie: Find Georgie to get us some pigeons. What is the point of Georgie's killing this bird? Do we ever find out what happens to it? How does her killing solely for sport affect how you view Georgie's character?
Quote #3
To test my cleaning job, I loaded a cartridge into the Springfield and aimed at a twig approximately one hundred yards away. I fired. The twig shattered.
"Nice shot," said Billy.
"I never miss," I said. (10.93-95)
Does Georgie ever miss? She talks a big game, that's for sure, and we see her make every shot she needs to. Then again, though, she's the one telling us the story…
Quote #4
For better or worse, one skill I've acquired by growing up in a store is the ability to sell. I am not proud of what I did that night, but at the time I thought I needed to convince Billy that I wanted to go home, and I sold him on it: (15.44)
Here we see that Georgie is good at selling, both literally and figuratively. In this case, she's good at convincing someone to do what she wants.
Quote #5
I do believe Grandfather Bolte would have been proud of my deduction. It takes one business owner to understand another (legal or not). (16.30)
Georgie is always thinking about what Grandfather Bolte would think, which is interesting because we're pretty sure he would have told her not to tattle on Agatha to Mr. Olmstead.
Quote #6
While I crawled, I appraised my shooting skills. As I'd proved with the cougar, I was no quick draw. My best chance was to hide myself and wait for an opportunity to shoot. This tactic is known as hunting when animals are the target, but it has an altogether different name when man is the object—sharpshooting. (17.32)
How does the book distinguish between the consequences of shooting an animal and those of shooting a person? Does it make a distinction? Is it any "better" to shoot an animal?
Quote #7
Given the way I've previously described shooting, you may think magic happened here: that the focus came on strong, the world dropping away, and that I knew exactly what to do. But nothing could be further from the truth. (17.61)
Well, yes, we might think that, Georgie, given that you've bragged the whole time about what a great shot you are. You can't really blame us.
Quote #8
Through sawing breath, Billy's voice came. He spoke loudly: "Leave her. She's got a rifle—a repeater. She can shoot. She's the best shot in our town." (17.82)
Is she? Sorry, but there's got to be someone better than a thirteen-year-old, simply based on practice time alone. Even if it's a bit of an exaggeration, though, Georgie does seem to be in command of her shot.
Quote #9
Billy said: "She never misses."
Shut up, Billy! Shut up, I thought. (17.99-100)
Billy really is laying it on a bit thick here. Georgie does miss sometimes, after all, surely—she's only human.
Quote #10
"She's got a knack," said Aunt Cleo to Ma repeatedly (and in my hearing). Another time Aunt Cleo said that sales ran in the family, and I'd inherited the tendency. I understood what she meant. I felt almost clairvoyant. Sometimes I knew what people wanted or needed before they knew themselves. I certainly liked devising schemes to sell this or that item: I formulated plans. I tweaked wordings on signs and made sure everything looked like a picture postcard from the plate glass window. And despite the circumstances, I felt a kind of congruity with the world and my place in it when the store thrummed like a beehive with Aunt Cleo, Ma, and me each doing our part. (22.3)
How does this passage compare to the passages where Georgie talks about shooting? It seems like Georgie has found her place in the store and doesn't need to shoot to have an identity anymore. We are going to point out, though, that the shattered Springfield was probably easier to give up than a nice new gun would have been.