Important Quotations Explained
1. Jungle
rain had no beginning or end; it grew like foliage from the sky,
branching and arching to the earth, sometimes in solid thickets
entangling the islands, and, other times, in tendrils of blue mist
curling out of coastal clouds. The jungle breathed an eternal green
that fevered men until they dripped sweat the way rubbery jungle
leaves dripped the monsoon rain. It was there that Tayo began to
understand what Josiah had said. Nothing was all good or all bad
either; it all depended.
2. The word
he chose to express "fragile" was filled with the intricacies of
a continuing process, and with a strength inherent in spider webs
woven across paths through sand hills where early in the morning
the sun becomes entangled in each filament of web. It took a long
time to explain the fragility and intricacy because no word exists
alone, and the reason for choosing each word had to be explained
with a story about why it must be said this certain way. That was the
responsibility that went with being human, old Ku'oosh said, the
story behind each word must be told so there could be no mistake
in the meaning of what had been said; and this demanded great patience
and love.
3. Here they
were, trying to bring back that old feeling, that feeling they belonged
to America the way they felt during the war. They blamed themselves
for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they
blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the
land the white people took. They never thought to blame the white
people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They
never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling
and it was the white people who took it away again when the war
was over.
4. "How did
you know I'd be here?" He said, still watching the cattle. She laughed
and shook her head, "the way you talk!" she said. "I was here almost
a week before you came. How did you know I'd be here? Tell me that
first."
5. Old Grandma
shook her head slowly, and closed her cloudy eyes again. "I guess
I must be getting old, " she said, "because these goings-on around
Laguna don't get me excited any more." She sighed, and laid her
head back on the chair. "It seems like I already heard these stories
before—only thing is, the names sound different."
