How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Paul and me had been best friends since we shared a playpen—our dads had been best friends for like five years before we were born. We were like two pieces of the same guy; I got the muscles and the common sense, he got the talent and the face. I told Paul that once, and like right then, not even a second for breath, he said, "How do you know we're not two parts of the same ugly, puny, untalented dork?" (1.38)
Paul and Karl's bizarre, lifelong friendship is a huge part of the book, both in showing how they deal with their mutual family problems and how their relationship changes as time passes and social politics invade their bond. Since all of this stuff fails to mess up their friendship (at least permanently), maybe they really are part of the same dork.
Quote #2
I smiled back for all I was worth. I couldn't stand to think how lonely the guy was feeling. Christ, if that wasn't a lesson—lose your rabbit and other kids swarm all over you, lose your mom and you're invisible—what a thing to know about your friends. I wanted to be a friend for him worse than I'd ever wanted anything. (4.61)
This is a pretty weird way to be feeling about a kid whose pet bunny you just whacked Godfather-style, but it's obvious that Karl learns an important lesson from the Squid Cabrillo affair. Mainly, the losses of his dad and Squid's mom make them both understand how valuable friendship is, especially in crisis and loss.
Quote #3
"Karl, when you get old, the only thing you got left is your friends. Rose'n'me's the only people that remember some of that stuff we were joking about. Once there's only one of us, which praise the Lord if he's willing won't be for a long time yet, it'll be like all that stuff never happened […] So if you don't do anything else, you have to stick up for your friends." (10.77)
Mr. Browning might be kind of a pervert, but boy does he speak the truth here. Little does he know that he's not just spouting sentimental advice—he's speaking directly to Karl's bind over whether or not to leave the Madmen. To him, Mr. Browning is really giving him a warning: he can go his own way and die alone, or hang onto his friends with all he's got.
Quote #4
It wasn't being much of a day but I'd had worse. I figured if I took care of all my other friendships, and just did what I needed to do, I could get it down to aching about Paul maybe once every other breath. (16.87)
So, Karl's battle with Paul in the hallway was pretty bad. But what's worse than punching someone in the gut and calling him an offensive slur related to his sexuality is that the victim has been his best friend since they were born. While the shame of what he did and said is getting to him, the ache really comes from putting his oldest friendship in jeopardy.
Quote #5
And being the Tonto I always was, here I was again: Tonto to Paul, who was artistic and beautiful; Tonto to Cheryl, who was off to save the beautiful artist; Tonto to my crazy mom; probably Tonto to old Browning—I was the eternal sidekick. (17.65)
For your generation, The Lone Ranger looks a lot like this, Johnny Depp included. But to Karl and the Madmen, it would have looked more like this. Not quite as, um, colorful but still classic. Either way, Karl would probably rather be the Lone Ranger, aka the hero, but instead he's stuck being the sidekick.
Quote #6
"Remember when Dennis died?" […]
"Yeah," she said. "You and me drove all over hell with Paul while he cried, and then after he fell asleep, you and me sat up all night on the hood of this car, watching waves on Lake Erie. You mean, like, we share that and we can trust each other?" (18.62-63)
This conversation between Karl and Cheryl shows that for the Madmen, friendship is mostly based on trust. Think about it—would you feel comfortable telling your friends about the darkest, most vulnerable part of your life? Unless you have a friend you put a lot of faith in, our guess is probably not. Yet the Madmen are thrust into a group that requires them to share these things with each other, and they form a bond that's centered around knowing each other's dirt.
Quote #7
I said, "Look, I know they're screwed up, but they're the friends I have. And I'm so pissed that I'd like to kill Paul, but if any s***head lays a finger on him I'd be there with the bat, like Squid says, to explain 'don't be an asshole' in terms anyone can understand. It might be f***ing crazy—in fact I know it—but those guys are pretty much all the family I want to admit to. Even Paul. Especially Paul." (20.41)
This is a big leap to make for a guy who was plotting to abandon the Madmen in the very opening sentences of this book. Regardless of that, Karl learns to accept not only his station in the hierarchy of high school life but also to accept his friends for who they are.
Quote #8
"It was just kind of an idea we came up with after you and Cheryl left, at Denny's, last night," Bonny said. "Marti said everybody really knows who the therapy kids are anyway. I mean we know who's in the other groups, you know? And we all get teased sometimes, and Gratz practically announces it in class every other day. So Marti said, why not just be friends in public? So here we are." (21.73)
The Madmen have a bond that's based on more solid trust than probably any group of friends in their school—and yet they've been embarrassed to associate with each other until now. It's Marti's defiance of her critics, her parents, and her circumstances that inspires them to stop the charade.
Quote #9
"I hope this doesn't sound too weird, but when Gratz yelled at me, I felt good, because I knew it was going to be Madman f***ing legend, the maddest tale of the Madmen ever, all of us walking out on Gratz. Even Darla did, you know?" (21.94)
A huge part of the Madman Underground is their mythology—Paul, like Darla, Squid, and the rest of the gang, wants to have a good story, and rebelling once and for all against Gratz's abuse is the chance to get what he wants.
Quote #10
"Marti sure joined the group in a hurry," Paul said. "Already hiding other Madmen, already been locked out herself, it's like she's always been here."
"She's really changed the group," I agreed. "But I guess it needed changing. I kind of like her knack for upsetting things." (21.114-115)
We talk about this in the "Characters" section in some detail, but Marti's appearance in the Madman Underground is really what sets this whole thing in motion. Because of her, Karl rethinks his plan to become normal and the Madmen decide to come out of hiding and be friends in public. Not only that, but she becomes a real friend to Karl during the period when things are still on the rocks with Paul.