How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Deep inside me the loneliness bird laid a large stone egg. (3.156)
No, this isn't just a nice way of saying that Peekay is constipated. Instead, these pesky loneliness birds reveal to us that Peekay's a really sensitive kid who is also really good at hiding his feelings. Check out the "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" section for more on those birds and their unpleasant eggs.
Quote #2
The loneliness birds stopped laying stone eggs, they rose from their stone nests and flapped away on their ugly wings and the eggs they left behind crumbled into dust. A fierce, howling wind came along and blew the dust away until I was empty inside. (8.98)
Even though the loneliness birds have left, Peekay is still scarred by what happened. We can see that because even though the birds and their eggs are gone, the place where they were is still there, and still empty. Peekay can still feel the loss, even if it doesn't hurt as bad.
Quote #3
"The vines are people who are afraid of originality, of new thinking. Most people you encounter will be vines; when you are a young plant they are very dangerous." (9.111)
Doc isn't talking about those funny six-second Vine videos that are super addicting to watch. Doc is warning Peekay here using a metaphor. Peekay is a young plant that has a long way to go before he is strong, while the vines are the people with closed minds who can wrap around him and choke him until he is stunted, afraid to learn and grow.
Quote #4
With some forty kids of my own age I was now undisputed leader, a situation I must confess I found to my liking. Being somebody after being nobody for so long was a heady experience, but I also found it, on occasion, a bit onerous. Fights had to be settled, bullying stopped, and the small kids set straight when they did things wrong. (11.82)
In this section we get a taste of how isolation doesn't just mean being an outsider. Even when Peekay is the most popular kid in the school, he still feels like he doesn't connect; he's a leader, but not the students' peer. We can feel lonely even if we're surrounded by people, which tells us that loneliness comes from inside, not from outside circumstances
Quote #5
We were, he decided, odd-bods, he a Jew and me with only one name. (16.61)
In the society of the Prince of Wales School, most of the kids come from English-speaking families and have plenty of money and social status; being a Jew meant being not only from another religion, but also from another, not always accepted, culture. Remember, this novel takes place during Hitler's reign, when the Holocaust wasn't just a section in history books—it was real life.
Quote #6
I was by nature a fairly quiet sort of a guy and had no trouble getting on with things. (16.102)
This phrase is simple, but really characterizes Peekay as an outsider who knows how to blend in, even if he still feels left out as he's doing it.
Quote #7
While I didn't think of it as camouflage, I now know that it was, that I kept myself protected by being out in front. Too far in front to be an easy mark. (17.57)
This goes in the "problems you'd like to have" file. So Peekay finds a new way to hide, which is to just be so dang good at everything that no one even bothers to pick on him. If you have the skills, you should give it a shot...it certainly can't hurt to try.
Quote #8
This made for a loneliness that left me aching to share an emotion but equally afraid that if I did so I would reveal a weakness that could be used against me. (17.60)
Do you think that Peekay is special in this feeling of loneliness, or is this just an example of the human condition? Do we all feel like we are weak, that we don't want to reveal our true selves to others?
Quote #9
But then even Doc was lost to me when the lightning of sex struck. (17.61)
Just as Doc doesn't really have much advice to offer when Peekay is in love with his elementary teacher, he also has nothing to say about puberty. Peekay feels isolated because the one person he really connects with in life, Doc, really can't help him out with this one.