How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I've been working for my dad a lot. He owns the bookstore downtown." (1.43)
Laurel is no stranger to responsibility. We never find out whether or how her dad compensates her for working in his bookstore—does she get paid an hourly wage, or is it counted like a chore, something she's just supposed to do in exchange for all the time and effort her parents have put into caring for her? Still, this gives us the sense that Laurel is happy to be helpful when others might view it as a drag.
Quote #2
"Wait," David said, holding on to her arm. "Don't go. Not when you're all freaked out like this." He tried to meet her eyes, but she refused to look at him. "I'm really worried about you. Can't you just tell me?" (6.48)
David is a really responsible friend, totally looking out for Laurel as a good friend should, so while she's acting strange and worrying about the unexplained flower on her back, he's worrying about her. What makes him so good at fulfilling his friendly duties is that he goes beyond worrying about her to acting on that worry, and reaching out to her so that he can support her during this time.
Quote #3
"If you were a parent and your kid told you she had a giant flower growing out of her back, what would you do? […] You would do the responsible thing. You'd take her to the hospital; she'd get poked and prodded and become a medical freak. That's what would happen to me. I don't want to be that kid, David." (6.115-117)
Laurel raises a good point here: As much as she'd like to tell her parents about the flower growing on her back, she can't. They would do the responsible thing and bring her to a doctor to have it checked out, and that's when all hell would break loose. Sometimes the responsible thing to do is not the desired course of action.
Quote #4
"I'm getting my driver's license in a few weeks and Mom's decided I need to work enough to pay for gas and insurance. She got me a job at the drugstore and I have to start today." (7.85)
As much as it sucks for David to have to get a part-time job to help pay for his car-related stuff, his mom probably views it as teaching him about responsibility. You know, because with great power comes great responsibility. Or something.
Quote #5
"I prefer to think of you as a scion […] a plant that's taken from one plant and grafted into another. You were taken from our world and put in the human world. A scion." (14.124-126)
When Laurel asks Tamani if she's a changeling, his reply is basically sort of, but not quite: she's more of a scion. She's meant to be a bridge between the faerie world and the human world. That's a pretty big responsibility if you ask us.
Quote #6
"Can you fend for yourself for dinner tonight?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"Your dad's just getting worse. His stomach hurts and is a little swollen, and now he's got a fever." (16.76-78)
In this conversation between Laurel and her mom, her mom's making it clear that she feels like she has a responsibility to try to heal Laurel's dad from his mysterious illness. Having a duty to help her husband doesn't suddenly make her not a mom, though—she still feels the need to check in with Laurel and make sure she'll be okay spending the evening on her own.
Quote #7
"Mom, you can't sell!" Laurel's voice was loud and high-pitched […]
"This is not about you, Laurel. I can't hold on to something this valuable just because you like it. Life doesn't work that way." (18.35-37)
Ouch. Laurel's mom is right—life's not fair, and you don't always get what you want. Sometimes you need to make sacrifices in order to protect the people for whom you're responsible, though that doesn't necessarily make it any less painful.
Quote #8
Laurel thought of her father lying in his hospital bed, perhaps even now taking his last breaths. "My father is dying, and in a few days there will be no one left but my mother and me. I can't be what you want me to be," she admitted in a shaky voice. (23.84)
It's super hard to face a huge duty when your life is falling apart at the seams, and while Laurel wants to help the faeries protect their homeland, if her dad dies, her family life will be wrecked and there's no telling what she will or won't be able to do. Luckily Jamison has a back-up plan in order to help her family find their feet again so she can take up her duties as a bridge between the human and faerie worlds. Phew.
Quote #9
"She lectured me for a while and told me I was irresponsible, but she didn't ground me from the car or anything. That's thanks to you, I imagine. She knows I'm helping you." (24.63)
So here's a question: Is responsibility transitive? Like, does David get off easy for neglecting to call his mom and give her a status update because he was being responsible by helping Laurel in her time of need? Deep thoughts, brought to you by Shmoop.
Quote #10
"I knew you, Laurel, and you knew me. We were just friends, but we were such good friends. I… I asked you not to go, but you told me it was your duty. I learned about duty and responsibility from you." (25.73)
This is quite the revelation coming from Tamani. Since we've seen him being a sentry and stuff, we sort of assumed that he's always been responsible—but no, according to him, Laurel is the person who inspired him to learn more about duty and responsibility. It kind of makes sense, since very few people are probably born with this inner sense of responsibility; we need to learn it somewhere, so why not from the people around us?