How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I'd wanted my dad to come along so I wouldn't have to play man for the evening by driving the whole way and making sure everyone ate and all. I didn't so much mind the body identifying. That part was bound to happen, one way or another. (1.8)
Well this is kind of an awful burden to take on as the default "man of the house." It's too bad Cullen's dad is working and is leaving the dirty work of corpse identification to his eldest son.
Quote #2
"That's the thing—this is a town of people who used to be like us. You think anyone in Lily grew up dreaming about raising their families here? You think if they all had a choice, they wouldn't leave tomorrow?" (3.125)
Now that Cullen and his friends are growing up, they're starting to see the shortcomings of their hometown. It's not the most exciting place in the world; it's more of a last resort for people who have exhausted all their dreams.
Quote #3
People dreamed. People left. And they all came back. It was like Arkansas's version of a black hole; nothing could escape it. I lay there silent beside my brother, my best friend and his girlfriend wading in the water before me, and I knew we were all just in the prelude to disappointment after disappointment. (3.126)
Our resident pessimist Cullen Witter doesn't exactly have the rosiest view of the rest of his life. In fact, he thinks that adulthood will just bring a series of disappointments. How charming.