How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
In the dim light and over the gang graffiti they painted the statue, adding six ultraviolet wings to Liberty as she looked over an expressionist cityscape. Then in every color they painted part of what Fatima said she wished she had seen more than anything else: the plaque inside Liberty's pedestal, Emma Lazarus's poem. Fatima had memorized it long before she came to America. (22.31)
The mural that the girls create signifies the friendship that they share with one another. Yet, it also features the Statue of Liberty to remind us that they are free enough with each other to become friends in the first place. While others call Fatima a terrorist, Mik sees her for the loving and caring girl she is.
Quote #8
The walls were painted glossy yellow, the chipped floor tiles too. The room was too big for the small table and two chairs. The sun shined hard through big windows. She squinted south through the glare. Behind the office buildings was the Statue of Liberty. Fatima could see no more than the tip of the torch, washed out against the too blue sky. (42.2)
In the detention center, Fatima can just barely make out the Statue's torch. It's significant that when she's trapped in prison she looks out the window and sees liberty. It reminds her—and us—that her freedom is just outside of the detention center's walls, that so long as she keeps her eyes on the prize, it just might be hers someday.
Quote #9
Fatima watched until the plane was closest to Liberty, and then she closed her eyes so her Mother of Exiles would never fade into the distance. (44.4)
As Fatima flies away, the last thing she sees is the Statue of Liberty. It's not until she's leaving America that she gets her close-up, but even then, she's separated by an airplane. For Fatima, freedom is never really achieved, not in the way she wants it anyhow.