How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
To me, Dad and his colleagues seemed like the heroic men featured in the ads in LIFE Magazine, marching bravely into the bright and shining future. (1.61)
In the 1950s, X-rays were a big deal, and being a radiologist was almost as exotic as being an astronaut.
Quote #2
Her silent fury was like a black tidal wave. Either you get out of the way or…(1.233)
A tidal wave in panel 233 washes over David and his brother Ted, and in the next panel they're being sucked into twin whirlpools. They have to be careful not to drown in their mother's anger.
Quote #3
"Scream and cry all you want, little baby. Mama's not here. She went to play golf. I'm in charge for the next three hours." (1.241)
Ted's reaction to being in charge is to dress up like a cowboy and walk up behind David with a toy gun—it's the Wild West version of babysitting.
Quote #4
During spring vacation our family split down the middle. Dad took Ted and headed east to visit his old mother, while Mama took me and drove south to be with hers. (1.295)
Which is to say, took him to the house of horrors. We know as soon as he gets in the car with his scowling mother that we're about to meet the scary people who spawned her.
Quote #5
As evening came on, the air began to cool, the land began to roll, and Mama—usually so sternly silent—began to talk. She told me her family stories. (1.302)
There's some really brilliant exposition happening here. Small shows us the characters we're about to meet by having his mom talk about them on the trip down to visit them. He also changes the drawing style as he changes the time period—when talking about his grandparents and great-grandparents, the images become simpler, and the people are depicted as old-timey cartoon characters.
Quote #6
"Loretta's husband He hadda stroke 'n died three days later. Georgette got married last December. That neighbor girl, Nancy Jean? She got preggnid outta wedlaw but then she lost the baby." (1.252)
The way Small writes his grandmother's Southern-accented gossip reveals a keen ear for dialogue. "Preggnid" means "pregnant;" "wedlaw" means "wedlock."
Quote #7
"Listen to me: I don't ever want to hear you use that word again! Do you hear me? Never!" (1.295)
For the first time, we see David's mother's eyes behind her glasses as she shakes him and tells him not to call his grandmother crazy. It's like this is her one moment of true emotional connection to him—behind closed doors, in her mother's house, where she grew up feeling the fear David feels now.
Quote #8
"DOCTORS COST MONEY and MONEY is something that is in SHORT SUPPLY in THIS HOUSE." (2.52)
David's mom's reaction to finding out he has a growth on his neck is to get angry and yell at him. But it's not really that she's angry about the cost of doctors—she's angry because Mrs. Dillon left alarmed, saying she couldn't believe David's mother hadn't noticed.
Quote #9
Back at home all was the same! Dad never there except occasionally for one of Mother's dry, burned little meals; Mother coiled tight inside her shell of angry, resentful silence; my brother in his, and I in mine. (3.109)
Silence is practically a fifth member of the family, don't you think? Even when they come together, David's family keeps to themselves.
Quote #10
"Your mother doesn't love you. I'm sorry, David. It's true. She doesn't love you." (4.38; 40)
This might seem like an incredibly harsh thing to say to someone, but it's David's therapist's job to tell the truth, and sometimes the truth is the greatest gift you can give. Not to get all psychobabble, but it's the validation David needs in order to begin healing.
Quote #11
[…] I always had to return home where, as I was slowly beginning to pull myself together, my family seemed to be quickly falling apart. (4.78)
David's family really isn't any more screwed up than they've ever been, but he's quickly learning how screwed up they are. His perception begins to change rapidly once he enters therapy.