How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Your mother will make no decision without you, nor will she sign anything, not even common receipts; hence nothing can move forward until you are here. You are her strong right arm now, Mattie, and you are a pearl of great price to me, but there are times when you are an almighty trial to those who love you. Hurry home. (5.9)
Sure, it sounds like bragging—but all the things Lawyer Daggett says in this letter are true. Plus, notice how Mattie succeeded as a businesswoman because her family encouraged her. They're not telling her to leave the bookkeeping to her brother; they're telling her to come on home so they can get the family moving again.
Quote #8
"She said, 'Goodbye, Reuben, a love for decency does not abide in you.' There is your divorced woman for you talking about decency. I told her, I said, 'Goodbye, Nola, I hope that little nail selling bastard will make you happy. She took my boy with her too. He never did like me anyhow. I guess I did speak awful rough to him but I didn't mean nothing by it. You would not want to see a clumsier child than Horace. I bet he broke forty cups." (6.259)
A lot of funny and sad mixed up together in this quote. Notice that divorced women aren't considered decent—but no word about divorced men, right?