How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Thinking about Dad was a bad way to start the plan because it could make me blow acting normal all to hell and nobody would understand, since he'd been dead for almost four years—four years exactly on October 17. Which I had noted would fall on Week Six of Operation Be F***ing Normal. Don't think about that. (1.5)
We tend to forget about Karl's dad because the present events in his life are so, well, present. But the fact remains: Karl lost his dad, and losing a parent as a teenager messes with your head. Karl tends to hide or even diminish his emotions, and yet we can sense that he's completely not over losing his father—as well he shouldn't be.
Quote #2
I had a familiar, numb, sick feeling as I pocketed the IOU. I'd paste it in my account book later. She'd just wiped out what I'd made gardening in a month, or three McDonald's paychecks. Figure it any way you liked, there were some days of my life I worked for nothing, and sure as s*** I was never getting them back because Mom's IOU wasn't worth wiping your butt with. (1.25)
A lack of boundaries is a huge problem in Karl's family, especially when it comes to his mom thinking it's totally OK to raid his bank account. The fact that she thinks IOUs are a perfectly acceptable way of handling the situation shows how immature she really is. Rather than respect Karl for being hard-working, she diminishes how much he does to care for their home.
Quote #3
"And I know maybe you're thinking about Doug … aw, s***, Karl, I didn't get along with your dad and all but I did love him and I miss him, too … s***. What I was going to say is that he was the mayor here, they elected him three times, and Shoemaker Avenue is named after his great-grandpa […] The cemetery is full of his people and my people, and we all go to college." (2.67)
Beth Shoemaker is one of the first literary moms we've met who actually attempts to lecture her kid about the importance of college when she herself never went and is drunk while giving said lecture. Really, Karl probably ends up in college prep classes because of a drunk monologue his mom doesn't really remember giving—not because he owes something to his family's legacy.
Quote #4
I think that's why us Madmen loathed [Gratz]. Switching back and forth between this-is-the-way-the-world-is, my-way-or-the-highway tough, and remorseful big-wuvvy-teddy-bear-sweet, was what a lot of us saw at home—the behavior of a father who beats his kids or f***s them. (2.100)
Yikes. Having a teacher who emotionally behaves much the same way as your abusive parents do would probably mess you up pretty badly. For the Madmen, school should be an escape, and yet Gratz gives them a glimpse of the thing they're trying to get away from.
Quote #5
I couldn't quit the team. It was a big deal to Dad. He saved the stories from the Lightsburg Lighthouse—they did a "preseason" about us, a story about each game, and a "postseason," where Coach Stuckey mentioned me in a list of about ten guys he was expecting more from next year. Dad put yellow Hi-Liter on my name; that and the honor roll were the only times I appeared in the paper while he was alive. (4.13)
Ever do something for absolutely no reason other than that it would make your parents happy? The pressure to do that under normal circumstances is pretty big, but throw a parent dying of cancer on top of that and it just makes things worse. It doesn't seem to matter that Karl isn't a star player on the team or is barely anybody of note; his dad is still proud and impressed.
Quote #6
He looked right into my eyes. Nice a guy as old Philbin usually was, he had some of that closed mind that Lightsburg turned out like soybeans and corn. I knew what he wanted to ask. Are you okay with the way she f***s around? Is she ever sober at night? Does she let Neil hit you? Should I call the cops about anything? I knew he wanted me to nark on Mom. I gave him a slack face, hoping I looked like I was thinking about hitting him, afraid I looked like I was about to cry, probably just looking like I was real dumb. (6.38)
The entire community of Lightsburg seems to live under this unspoken creed that family business is family business and you don't get involved with that … even if people have been talking, and you know for a fact that the situation is dire.
Quote #7
He laughed. "Doug Shoemaker's kid, to the bone. Defending the helpless and shaking hands." He clapped my shoulder and walked away. I resisted the urge to wipe my shoulder. (7.151)
One big part of why Karl hates Lightsburg is that when people look at him, they see his dad, not who he really is individually and on his own. The fact that his dad was a high-profile figure who let down a huge portion of the community by not supporting the plastic housing development kicks things up several notches. Whether Karl likes it or not, his family legacy precedes him.
Quote #8
That settled all the big questions, so Mom got me cleaned up and put to bed. I remember her hugging me extra hard and saying, "Your dad does love you, Tiger, and I know you love him, but try not to be like him, 'kay?" (11.41)
Just to recap the context of this scene, Karl's dad just went outside to get drunk because he swore at his son for thinking Communism had honorable qualities. Before that, his parents got in a drunken brawl that ended with his dad's birthday cake on the floor. Finally, the evening concludes with his mom telling him not to grow up and be like his dad. And that, folks, is a happy family evening in Lightsburg.
Quote #9
When Squid finished, he put his head down and muttered for a moment. I glanced his way. "Oh, Mom always said it was stupid to give thanks before you got the thing, the time to thank was after you had it, so she said grace at the end of the meal. So I—well, you know."
"Yeah. Every time I pick up a tool I hear my dad's voice." (16.140-141)
Squid and Karl (and Paul, even though he's not in this passage) all share the common experience of losing a parent. For them in particular, the kindness Karl showed Squid when his mom died has made this commonality a special bond for them. To talk about the things they miss about their parents is a language both can easily understand.
Quote #10
At first we thought that that sad pile of torn paper could be put back together like a puzzle. But it quickly turned out to be hopeless; the dried-out pieces broke in our hands, that old gravity furnace made it so hot up in my room, and so dry, that four winters had pretty much destroyed it.
After a while we both gave up; there was no way to get it all laid out and then tape it together."I'm so sorry, Karl," she said. Her eyes were clear and calm, like the Mom I remembered; I almost cried right then. (23.111-113)
Karl didn't just lose his dad—in the aftermath of his father's death, he lost his mom, and she became someone barely recognizable to him. The incident with tearing up the list, though, seems to bring her back to reality, providing a wake-up call of what she's actually done to her son.