1. “My grandfather’s voice was stronger and calmer now. ‘Lord,’ he added, like it was a postscript on a letter, ‘please forgive the ways I ain’t done right by Miss Mattie Lou. Please forgive me. She don’t know, and ain’t nobody else knows, but I know and You know Lord, what I’m a-talkin’ about.” Rucker Blakeslee, pg. 36.

– This quotation is very vital to the story for it hints that Mr. Blakeslee’s past is not the cleanest, and shows what the barrier was in his relationship with Miss Mattie Lou. It also creates a deal of suspense for Mr. Blakeslee’s “secret” was not revealed until the very end of the novel.

2.“Two or more year ago she was out workin’ in her rose garden one mornin’ -did you know, boy, she’s got over sixty different kinds out there?-and she said to me, said, ‘Mr. Blakeslee, I wouldn’t even mind dyin’ if’n I could be buried in a bed of roses.'” Blakeslee, pg. 48.

– This statement was very ironic for after Miss Mattie Lou’s death, Mr. Blakeslee and Will worked extremely hard to make a blanket of roses, which at the time seemed to be very peculiar for Mr. Blakeslee had never been so persistent to do something for his wife like that. Now understanding as to why Mr. Blakeslee made the blanket of roses,  it shows how Mr. Blakeslee did in fact have a genuine soft side and cared for Miss Mattie Lou.

3. “But to mourn, that’s different. To mourn is to be eaten alive with homesickness for the person. That day, I mourned mostly for Granny, who had lost more than any of us, but also for Grandpa, for mama and for myself. I didn’t want to visit Granny at the cemetery like Grandpa was doing. That was just her empty shell over there, whereas here I could touch things she had touched, look out on the flowering plants she had looked at and walk through her house.” Will, pg. 56.

– This statement was important for through this the reader is allowed to see how Will is beginning to figure the adult mind out. Will as a young boy understands that sadness and grievance is accompanied with death, however he feels as if the major scene adult’s make is more for them, than it is for the deceased. Will feels that weeks of silence, nothing but black clothing, and the overwhelming amounts of stress, is really not doing anything but make the pain worse and he feels that remembrance is being over throne by  mourning.

4. “The girl didn’t seem to have heard yet that nobody in Mill Town ever amounted to anything.” Will, pg. 71.

– This is important, for it shows the difference of views between towns in the Cold Sassy area. Obviously, the Mill Town people feel that they are deserving of the same things that the Cold Sassy people have but due to Cold Sassy’s narrow-minded view, they ignorantly raise themselves up to a higher stature.

5. “In bed that night, going over and over what all happened, it dawned on me that by saving myself, I had saved the train engineer from running down a life, never mind that it wouldn’t of been his fault. That’s why he was so glad to see me.” Will, pg. 80.

– Once again, this statement hints at the fact that Will comprehends how the adult mind works, and how self absorbent one’s mind can be. When Will was hit by the train, the engineer ran up to him frantically rejoicing that he had not been killed, however his rejoicing was not because Will was okay, but rather the fact he had not been the one to kill him.

6.  “When Miss Love came into my life, Aunt Loma was still my prime hate, and getting even with her was still my prime goal.” Will, pg. 105.

– I chose this quotation primarily for the humor aspect of it all. Throughout the novel there is really a pointless hatred between Aunt Loma and Will, so much to the fact that Will would rather accept a stranger that broke into his family, than someone he’s been around his whole life.

7.  “Queenie doesn’t care what she eats out of, Miss Love. No more’n she cares if pot licker runs off of the turnip salad and soaks her biscuits or if the cream gravy gets all over her mashed sweet potatoes. She likes usin’ a pan. It holds more’n a plate.’ Being an outsider, Miss Love couldn’t understand that Queenie really just didn’t care.” Will, pg. 205.

– This quotation is important for it shows the blindness and ignorance from a young perspective. Will his entire life has been grown up around slaves, and has always been told how they work because they want to and enjoy being treated like dog’s, however this is not the case. Miss Love, being far more mature and worldly, understands the evil’s of slavery however cannot get Will to reason with her plight that slavery is inhumane.

8. “Whelm, faith ain’t no magic wand or money-back gar’nttee, either one. Hit’s jest a way a-living’. Hit means you don’t worry th’ew the days. Hit means you go’n be holdin’ on to God in good or bad times, and you accept whatever happens. Hit means you respect life like it is-like God made it-even when it ain’t what you’d order from the wholesale house….” Rucker, pg. 363.

– This is important for it shows how Mr. Blakeslee believed that the proper relationship with God was one that asked him to help you bear whatever troubles you had, rather than asking to be relieved of them.

9.“Grandpa had the manner of a king or duke: when he said do or don’t do something, you said yessir before you thought. And if he said he meant to do something-like keep his corn whiskey in your closet or marry Miss Love Simpson- if you couldn’t say yessir, you sure-dog didn’t say no sir. Not out loud.” Will, pg. 20.

– This quotation is important, for it shows the male dominance withing the Blakeslee family. Mr. Blakeslee was a man that deemed the upmost respect, refused to be given anything less bet the best, and placed himself on the highest pedestal. This quotation is also ironic too, for towards the end of the novel we see Mr. Blakeslee starting to place Miss Love on a pedestal rather than himself.

10. “I caught her wrist and pulled her up. And then I kissed her. I swear I hadn’t once thought of doing such a thing, and I’m sure she hadn’t either.” Will, pg.246

– This quotation is important for it shows how confusing it was for Will as he made the shift from boyhood to adulthood. Will felt as if he needed to do something to comfort Lightfoot, however he was unsure how to approach it and then turned his actions over to impulses. The fact that he kissed her showed that he was willing to release the opinions of others, since Lightfoot was a Mill Town girl, and acted out on his own.