How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"There's no one to stop them."
There was silence for a moment.
"There's me," said Tiffany. (3.253-255)
Tiffany Aching isn't just a thinker, she's also a doer. When she finds out that another world is going to invade her own, she immediately takes responsibility for protecting the Chalk—and doesn't even try to find an adult for help.
Quote #2
The world I can see through the arch isn't actually real. It just looks as though it is. It's a sort of… magical picture, put there to disguise the entrance. And if you don't pay attention, well, you just walk in and out of it and you don't realize it. (7.403)
Most people would get frustrated at walking back and forth through a stone arch and seeing nothing happen. Not Tiffany. She just keeps trying until something happens.
Quote #3
"I will get him back," said Tiffany quietly. (8.91)
Look, the Queen may be a scary, deranged woman who steals kids for her own amusement, but Tiffany doesn't care about her magical powers—she just knows that she's going to get her brother back, no question about it.
Quote #4
The anger came back. She'd nearly been fooled! She looked at the cheese knife. "Be a sword," she said. After all, the drome was making her dream, but she was doing the dreaming. She was real. Part of her wasn't asleep. (9.109)
Tiffany has enough inner strength to fight back against really strong dromes that want her to fall for pleasant and fun dreams. She can force herself to keep her eye on the prize—even if that prize is just a sticky younger brother.
Quote #5
Tiffany didn't wait to see what else was going to happen. She grabbed her brother again, and ran away, down through the grass, past the strange figures looking around at the sound of the Queen's anger. (10.222)
Coming up against the Queen doesn't leave Tiffany shaking in her boots. Nope—she just keeps moving forward, trying to get out of Fairyland in one piece with Wentworth in tow.
Quote #6
The Nac Mac Feegle couldn't be trodden on or squeezed. They worked in groups, running up one another's backs to get high enough to punch an elf, or preferably, bash it with their heads. And once anyone was down, it was all over bar the kicking. (11.37)
You'd think that a bunch of tiny blue men would be scared of giant nightmare creatures, but instead they throw themselves at their enemies and keep fighting until they win.
Quote #7
"Aye, we'll cut oour way out!" shouted Daft Wullie.
"No, keep rowing!" said Tiffany. (12.62-63)
Even when a giant whale is gaining on them, Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegles don't resign themselves to the fate of Pinocchio and friends. Instead they row on—literally into the storm ahead of them.
Quote #8
Tiffany managed to take a step forward. The mud sucked at her boots.
"A bit of spirit at last?" said the Queen, stepping back. (13.25-26)
The Queen may think that she has Tiffany beat, but that doesn't mean the little girl is going to give up. Even if she didn't save Wentworth, she's not going to just let the Queen trample all over her emotions and her body.
Quote #9
The anger overflowed. She stood up, clenched her fists, and screamed at the storm, putting into the scream all the rage that was inside her.
Lightning struck the ground on either side of her. It did so twice. (13.66-67)
She's flat down in the mud, but Tiffany knows she has to get up and keep fighting. And when she decides to keep fighting, that's when she gets some backup in the form of mystical dogs. Coincidence? We're not sure.
Quote #10
She opened her eyes and then, somewhere inside, opened her eyes again. (13.146)
Tiffany is patient and certain of her ability to wake up from this horrible nightmarish dream that the Queen has put her in. Even if it doesn't work at first, she knows that eventually she's going to be able to wake up—and get away from this crazy lady. Thank goodness.