The Moths Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)

Quote #4

So I began keeping a piece of jagged brick in my sock to bash my sisters or anyone who called me bull hands. (2)

Whoa. This is pretty violent and pretty hardcore, right? This kind of extreme response to name-calling is a symptom of the deep violence that runs throughout this family's relationships. It also shows how insecure the narrator is within her own family that she feels the need to defend herself in this way.

Quote #5

Then he strategically directed his anger at Amá for her lousy ways of bringing up daughters, being disrespectful and unbelieving, and my older sisters would pull me aside and tell me if I didn't get to mass this minute, they were all going to kick the holy s*** out of me. (8)

"Strategically" is an interesting adverb. The narrator's father yells at her mother when the narrator misbehaves, which in turn spurs her sisters to action—in order to keep their mother out of trouble, they pressure the narrator to obey, using their own threats of violence. The father is playing everyone against each other to keep his family in line.

Quote #6

When I returned from the market, I heard Amá crying in Abuelita's kitchen. […] After a while, I patted her on the back for comfort. Finally: "¿Y mi Amá?" she asked in a whisper, then choked again and cried into her apron. (11)

This is the moment where we learn that Abuelita is the narrator's maternal grandmother. Amá is crying because, as it turns out, Abuelita is her Amá. The narrator might feel some compassion for her mother here because she sees her as a scared, sad daughter, not just her mom.