How we cite our quotes: (Story.Section.Paragraph) or (Story.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He cannot imagine a woman being lynched. He has never even considered the possibility. Perhaps this is why the image of a black woman chained and bruised excites rather than horrifies him? (Coming Apart.57)
The hubby in Walker's "fable" is having his imagination stretched in unpleasant ways. But one good thing is coming from having his eyes opened: he's finally understanding why his porn mags so totally freak out his wife. And for her, it's validation: she's not the one who has to do the growing up in the relationship. She's right to have reacted badly to the violence implicit in those images.
Quote #5
It is the fact that the lynching of her body has never stopped that forces the wife, for the time being, to blot out the historical record. She is not prepared to connect her own husband with the continuation of that past. (Coming Apart.57)
It's a good thing that her husband is finally coming to terms with the hurt that his use of porn has caused her, but she's paying a high price for this victory. The weight of history is about to crush her spirit if she thinks about all the bodies of all the women who have been violated over time. The truth that her husband is participating in some way with this violent history cannot make its way into her brain at this time. Overload pending.
Quote #6
Imani felt her body had been assaulted by these events and was, in fact, considerably weakened, and was also, in any case, chronically anaemic and run down. Still, if she had wanted the baby more than she did not want it, she would not have planned to abort it. (Abortion.12)
Imani is in a bad place, physically and mentally, in her life. At this point, she feels that it's either the baby's life or her own—and this is why she chooses the abortion. But aside from the shocks that her body has had to deal with in the last few years, there's the issue of desire. Does Imani want this child? Her answer is clear at this point, though her consideration of the violence done to her unborn child weighs more on her after the procedure is done.