How we cite our quotes: (Date.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Why would you stick someone you love down in a lonely old hole in the dirt?" (12.19.138)
Ethan makes an interesting point here. Why do you think this burial ritual has persisted for millennia?
Quote #5
My mom was still my mom, even if she only lived in books and door locks and the smell of fried tomatoes and old paper. She lived. (12.19.249)
Even if Ethan's mother wasn't communicating with him from beyond the grave (as he thinks she is), her memory would still linger in these things that were special and personal to her. It's a common thing to hear in a eulogy, probably because it's true.
Quote #6
When I'm in there with her books and things, it feels like she isn't really gone. I can still smell her. (12.19.256)
Ethan's dad isn't handling his wife's death well—at all. He's become reclusive, locking himself away in his study to be near her memory. Are there other ways for a person to remember a lost loved one? Could Ethan teach his dad how to grieve, or are his coping mechanisms just as futile?