How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I think [Black Dog] had lived so long in this land of the demons that his mind had become poisoned and he begun to think like a demon and to despise the Tang people around him. Maybe when he had first begun to take dope, he had just meant to get away from his conflicts; but after a while, taking dope had become an end in itself. (5.12)
Moon Shadow offers the provocative theory that Black Dog is down such a dark path because he not only despises demon people but also Tang people for allowing themselves to be dominated by the Americans. This internalized sense of self-loathing is a serious problem that Black Dog's addictive lifestyle only worsens.
Quote #8
I feel like I'd just woken from some long dream. I can follow the dragons' ways better among the demons than among the Tang people. (5.126)
Windrider reveals that he feels less foreign as a dragon with the non-Tang people than with the Tang people.
Quote #9
[..T]he boys above [Jack] began to make mock Tang-people sounds – sounds like "Wing-Duck-So-Long" and "Wun-Long-Hop" in rising and falling voices. I could have bitten off my tongue. But I stood there, staring at them, not wanting to let them chase me away. I felt something soft and wet hit my leg. It was an old tomato. They began to throw bits and pieces of garbage at me. Still I stood there. (6.48)
Moon Shadow is made to feel different when the neighborhood boys ridicule his spoken Chinese and show their disrespect by throwing garbage at him.