How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
They say that dead men tell no tales, but they're wrong. Even the dead tell stories. (1.5)
Storytelling isn't exactly what we think about when we read dead men but hey, we understand that Sig is in desperate need of learning what happened to his dad. Telling your story is almost as important as hearing someone else's in the book, because Sig can't move on without knowing.
Quote #2
"Yes. It was. Even the dead tell stories. But it seems to be another mistake your father made. He's saying nothing, I think. So now, you had better do his storytelling for him. I've followed him for ten years, wanting to hear how the story ends." (21.31)
Wolff says this to Sig and it surprises him, perhaps because it's the same thing his dad used to tell him. We'd also like to point out that Wolff is invested partly in the gold, but partly in knowing what happens next. Just like a page-turning murder mystery, Wolff can't wait to get to the end.
Quote #3
Even the dead tell stories. Einar had inherited the saying not from his Swedish father, but from his mother. It was a proverb that meant, as far as the young Anna could work out, nothing is ever truly finished; the past is always with us. (23.1)
Is this true in the book? Does anything finish by the end of the book? We're tempted to say yes, but when we look again, we might reconsider given the fact that Sig is still dealing with his dad's crimes some fifty years after he found out about them.
Quote #4
"Job was a good man who loved God, and who, no matter what bad things happened to him, refused to curse God's name and kept worshiping him. He lost his house and his servants and his family and all his sons and daughters, and still he kept believing in God's love." (23.13)
Literature takes on big meaning in the book, especially when it comes to what the Bible can teach. There's a reason Maria and Nadya constantly go back to its pages and reference its teachings: it's comforting to them, and helps them find their footing in difficult times.
Quote #5
"I know how to track. Some tracks are left in the snow, others in people's memories, others in record books. It was a different kind of hunting, but I did it in the end . I had to go back to Nome to start off. First thing I did was blow a hole in Figges's head." (29.54)
The way Wolff describes tracking people's memories is as though they are books that you can check out of a library. The only problem though, is we're pretty sure he doesn't have a borrower card—instead he just takes what he wants from people and leaves.
Quote #6
Then he saw what he had missed in the panic of finding Einar. A book. A black, leather-bound book, lying in the snow, near the tumble of matches. (33.31)
As Sig grabs the Bible, he's after something of his parents', but we'd also like to point out the fact that it's a book. Sig wishes that book could have provided the firewood that Einar needed in his final moments, but instead, Sig has a book now and no father.
Quote #7
"Don't I always say that? Yes? And this book is full of them. Full of them both. Dead men and stories, dead men and stories. You just have to know how to listen." (33.42)
It's significant that the book is the key to Sig solving the mystery about his dad. When he remembers what his dad says about the Bible, he thinks he should search inside it—and when he does, he's golden.
Quote #8
The second thing he thought of was something the young soldier had said to him. He'd said that a story like theirs was too good to be forgotten, and that what Sig ought to do was to write it down. Sig had replied that he couldn't do it. Or rather, not that he couldn't, but that it wouldn't feel right, writing about himself. (39.40)
Sig feels weirded out by the idea of sharing his story, because he's not sure if he can write it. Why does writing about himself feel wrong? Over to you, Shmoopsters.
Quote #9
So the young soldier, who was himself hoping to be a writer, explained that Sig could write the story as if he was writing it about someone else, about some other family. (39.41)
When Sig hears he should write the story as if it were about someone else, it suddenly becomes much easier. Maybe this is because he's writing about a piece of fiction almost, instead of his life story.
Quote #10
So one day, I picked up a pen, and a small black notebook, and that's just what I did. And now it's finished, I hope you liked my story. (39.42)
Now we're in the story. Sig purposely invites us in during the last line, as a way of acknowledging our presence this entire time. This is called breaking the fourth wall, and it pulls us into the journey of the text.