How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Denise was eleven, a hard-nosed kid. She led a more or less daily protest against those of her mother's habits that struck her as wasteful or dangerous. (2.29)
Denise is only eleven, but she often acts like she's Babette's mother instead of her daughter. Through books, magazines, radio, and TV, she also knows a lot more about certain adult issues than her mother does. For this reason, Denise reverses the normal authority of parent-over-child and spends a lot of this book telling her mom what to do.
Quote #2
The boy is fourteen, often evasive and moody, at other times disturbingly compliant. I have a sense that his ready yielding to our wishes and demands is a private weapon of reproach. (6.2)
Like most young men, Heinrich is moody and doesn't like listening to his dad. But sometimes he'll totally do whatever Jack tells him. It's these obedient times that make Jack suspicious, since it's more normal for a teenage boy to be rebellious. For Jack, total obedience is a sign that something's wrong or that Heinrich is up to something.
Quote #3
Babette is afraid he will end up in a barricaded room, spraying hundreds of rounds of automatic fire across an empty mall before the SWAT team come for him with their heavy-barreled weapons, their bullhorns and body armor. (6.2)
Heinrich acts a little too old for his age, and Babette takes this as a sign that there's something socially wrong with him. It doesn't help that even at fourteen, Heinrich is going prematurely bald. For someone like Babette, it's important for kids to be kids and parents to be parents.