The Waves Love/Hate Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #1

"I love," said Susan, "and I hate. I desire one thing only. My eyes are hard. Jinny's eyes break into a thousand lights. Rhoda's are like those pale flowers to which moths come in the evening. Yours grow full and brim and never break. But I am already set on my pursuit. I see insects in the grass. Though my mother still knits white socks for me and hems pinafores and I am a child, I love and I hate." (1b.43)

Susan's thoughts encapsulate the fact that love and hate are different sides of the same coin—in her universe, at least—and she seems to feel both emotions intensely (and sometimes simultaneously) even from a young age.

Quote #2

"This is my first night at school," said Susan, "away from my father, away from my home. My eyes swell; my eyes prick with tears. I hate the smell of pine and linoleum. I hate the wind- bitten shrubs and the sanitary tiles. I hate the cheerful jokes and the glazed look of everyone." (2b.7)

Susan is firmly fixated on "hate" here, listing a whole bunch of her least favorite things and expressing negative feelings toward her general environment and the people who surround her.

Quote #3

"For how many months," said Susan, "for how many years, have I run up these stairs, in the dismal days of winter, in the chilly days of spring? Now it is midsummer. We go upstairs to change into white frocks to play tennis—Jinny and I with Rhoda following after. I count each step as I mount, counting each step something done with. So each night I tear off the old day from the calendar, and screw it tight into a ball. I do this vindictively, while Betty and Clara are on their knees. I do not pray. I revenge myself upon the day. I wreak my spite upon its image. You are dead now, I say, school day, hated day." (2b.19)

So, Susan seems to have some intense (and negative) feelings about school, we guess? It seems her feelings rarely go halfway.