The quotations that open each chapter of the novel serve
as clues to what the chapter has in store and help us understand
how important these experiences are to the girls. For example, chapter 5 begins with
a proverb that says “Love is war: easy to begin, hard to end.” In
that chapter, Lena meets Kostos and is disappointed by him as she is
by every boy, and Bridget falls hard for Eric. Both girls get their first
taste of romantic love. Although these tentative beginnings are hardly
warlike, they are important to the girls. Lena feels disappointed
by Kostos and discouraged by love in general, while Bridget pursues
Eric with her characteristic enthusiasm. Love isn’t war—not yet,
at least—but the quotation adds a layer of significance to the girls’
encounters. The fact that some quotations are by the girls themselves—or,
in the case of Duncan Howe’s quotation in chapter 6,
by people in the girls’ lives—suggests that ordinary people are
just as capable of wisdom as writers, actors, and philosophers.
Duncan’s silly rules about customers hint at a lesson Tibby will
learn from her Wallman’s work this summer, even though, at this
point, his words seem like more evidence that he is as ridiculous
that Tibby believes him to be.
