How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I said, as much to myself as to Pig. The guy, or woman, or whatever, was wearing bright safety orange, easy to see, and maybe some kind of clear plastic helmet, and I thought, Radiation suit? and then we got close enough to see it was one of them. (1.48)
Tip's got an us and them mentality—literally—and she even emphasizes it for us in case we missed it. What we'd like to emphasize is how much she segregates between the different types of characters in the book: human, Boov, Gorg, there is no in between for her.
Quote #2
People who want to understand better how the human race was conquered so easily need to study those stores. Almost everything inside was filled with sugar, cheese, or weight-loss tips. (1.63)
Ouch. As much as we love sugar or cheesy stuff, we know what Tip means. Besides, the point of her characterization of humans is more about telling us how she sees the world. Everyone who doesn't fit into this category must be a foreigner.
Quote #3
The Boov frowned. "Everybodies always is wanting to make a clone for to doing their work. If you are not wanting to do your work, why would a clone of you want to do your work?" (2.105)
J.Lo cracks us up. He's got a good point, too, except for the fact that he lives in a world where clones are not a joke, but a reality. That's just one of the ways in which the Boov are outsiders to the humans.
Quote #4
The Boov are having seven magnificent genders. There is boy, girl, boygirl, girlboy, boyboy, boyboygirl, and boyboyboyboy. (2.264)
When Tip hears about the Boov genders, she's more confident than ever that ever that the Boov are "the Other." Just because someone is different or looks different doesn't mean that they are automatically bad or wrong, of course, but good luck telling that to Tip.
Quote #5
"It goes… it goes, Gorg are dumb, dumb like soap, their wives are wider than they should be." (2.702)
The song that J.Lo sings not only alerts the Gorg to where the Boov are (that would be our planet), but it also tells us a lot about how the Boov think about other races of aliens. It turns out humans aren't the only ones with stereotypes and racism. Oh good (j/k).
Quote #6
I was kind of dizzy, kind of light-headed, and I had what you might call a vision. Or you might not; that's your thing. But I could see the Boov and humans and J.Lo and me and my mom and everybody all at once, and there were lines connecting us— a constellation. I only got it for a second, like it was a secret. (2.707)
It sounds like Tip might be rethinking her policy on foreigners, because she thinks about how all aliens and humans are connected in some way. This doesn't stop her from categorically hating all Gorg, though, or disliking the Boov either.
Quote #7
Most everyone thinks of Smekday as the day the Boov arrived, and as the day they left, one year later. But the longer they've been gone, the less I care about that. The Boov weren't anything special. They were just people. They were too smart and too stupid to be anything else. (2.722)
It turns out the Boov are more human than alien, or at least they have the same emotions. We wonder if the Gorg have the same capacity for being smart and stupid, and if Tip just spent time with the worst ones.
Quote #8
"Maaa-aa-aa-aa-aa!" J.Lo laughed. "Of course the Boov love. The Boov love everything!" (3.81)
Tip thinks the Boov don't really love if they love everything. We think Tip's being pretty judgmental about love, though. Who put her in charge of intergalactic definitions?
Quote #9
"It doesn't matter!" I said, standing. "Green or purple… it's still the wrong color skin, and they aren't welcome here!" (3.250)
Yikes. Tip makes it abundantly clear here that she doesn't have something against Boov or Gorg specifically, but against all aliens and anyone who isn't a human. Not her finest moment.
Quote #10
"Yeah…" I said, "but then why do they invade other planets? Why do they spend so much time taking other people's stuff away if they can just make their own?"
"Fff. Because they are jerks!" said J.Lo, throwing his arms in the air. "They are poomps! Kacknackers!" (3.1465-1466)
When it comes to the Gorg, J.Lo hates everything about them. Hmm… do his comments remind you of anyone? Hint, hint, check the quote right before this one. The question is, then, does J.Lo change his mind about the Gorg, or does it stay the same?