How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Flossie did three things each week. She worked on the gloves, she worked on her costumes, and she worked on Frank. (4.23)
Even the minor characters in this novel seem to be motivated by clear dreams and plans. Flossie will not be satisfied until she gets Frank. And guess what? (Spoiler alert) She gets him in the end.
Quote #5
Feeling his arms around her and instinctively adjusting herself to his rhythm, Katie knew that he was the man she wanted. She’d ask nothing more than to look at him and to listen to him for the rest of her life. Then and there, she decided that those privileges were worth slaving for all her life. (7.7)
Katie is a girl who gets what she wants, and she wants Johnny. And that might just be her biggest mistake. Achieving our dreams doesn’t necessarily guarantee happiness.
Quote #6
“There is here, what there isn’t in the old country. In spite of hard unfamiliar things, there is here—hope. In the old country, a man can be no more than his father, providing he works hard. If his father was a carpenter, he may be a carpenter. He may not be a teacher or a priest. He may rise—but only to his father’s state. In the old country, a man is given to his past. Here he belongs to the future. In this land, he may be what he will, if he has the good heart and the way of working honestly at the right things.” (9.52)
Ah, what we’ve got here Shmoopsters, is classic American Dream stuff. The American Dream: To do better than your parents at whatever you choose, to have a house on a little bit of land, to raise your children in a safe environment, and to have plenty of 4G coverage. That is what it’s all about. (Okay, maybe the 4G is a recent addition, but you hear us, right?) This is what Mary Rommely is talking about here to her daughter, Katie, who has just given birth to Francie.