How we cite our quotes:
Quote #1
The family section [of the newspaper] ran a regular feature about kids on their birthdays, and my mother had called in some info. The last sentence read: "As a hobby, Leo Borlock collects porcupine neckties" (Prologue.4).
Porcupine ties are an unusual thing to collect. No wonder the poor kid only has one tie in his collection. But still, this is a quirk that Leo maintains all his life, even when he enters high school and the pressures to conform are the greatest.
Quote #2
"She's not real," Hillari said. She was sneering. "She's an actress. It's a scam" (2.7)
When you meet someone who is unusual, do you have trouble accepting him or her, too? Do you try to dismiss them as not being "real" like Hillari does? And why does Hillari even do that in the first place?
Quote #3
"I'll tell you one thing," Kevin said as we joined the mob in the hallways, "she better be fake."
I asked him what he meant.
"I mean if she's real, she's in big trouble. How long do you think somebody who's really like that is going to last around here?" (2.25-27).
Kevin clearly believes that someone like Stargirl cannot have an identity like hers and make it in society. Stargirl will either be eaten alive, or she'll have to change into someone less strange, less shocking, and, most importantly, less genuine.
Quote #4
We wanted to define her, to wrap her up as we did each other, but we could not seem to get past "weird" and "strange" and "goofy." Her ways knocked us off balance (2. 40).
Why do all the Mica kids want to "wrap her up"? What's up with that? Is it because if we label someone then we are comfortable because we have imposed some sort of "control" over something that is not really controllable?
Quote #5
She was not truly a cheerleader, but Stargirl dressed like one (5.15).
Even when Stargirl becomes a member of a group (and you can't get much more in than the cheerleading squad), she is not defined by it. She isn't Stargirl The Cheerleader. She is Stargirl, who happens to cheerlead on occasion. See the difference?
Quote #6
"She's homeschooled, you know. Her mother brought her to me. I guess she wanted a break from playing teacher. One day a week. Four, five—yes, five years now."
Kevin pointed. "You created her!"
Archie smiled, puffed. "No, that was done long before me" (7.19-21).
By accusing Archie of creating Stargirl, Kevin clearly shows his beliefs about identity. He believes that people are a product of their environment; that they are made by the people around them. Archie, however, thinks otherwise. He thinks her identity was created long before he met her. How long before? Was Stargirl's identity created when, say, humans were made from stars?
Quote #7
Kevin jumped in. "So… you change your name whenever you get tired of it?"
"Whenever it doesn't fit anymore. I'm not my name. My name is something I wear, like a shirt. It gets worn, I outgrow it, I change it" (13.23-24)
In an attempt to explain her name during her "Hot Seat" interview, Stargirl clearly shows that she thinks that your identity is not something that is created by any outside sources, not even a name. She believes that we are much more than our names, and our names should reflect who we are. Who we are changes, so names should, too.
Quote #8
When someone turned and nodded, I felt grateful. If someone spoke to me, especially if I had not spoken first, I wanted to cry. I had never realized how much I needed the attention of others to confirm my own presence (23.3).
Leo really starts to feel isolated by the fact that so few people are talking to him lately. He is very insightful when he realizes that the reason this affects him so much is because his identity is based on his involvement in the groups around him. If no one notices you, are you anyone at all?
Quote #9
"Beautiful"
"Unusual"
"Interesting"
"Different"
"Regal"
These words will come later from the parents lining the walk. For now, there are only stares as she makes her way from the entrance to the ball (31.15-20).
These are the words that parents use to describe Stargirl and her entrance to the ball. What's so perfect is that these words are the closest anyone in the novel has come to actually defining her, if a definition is even possible.