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But my dad had already torn the envelope open. He scanned it, quickly, and then lost interest. “Here,” he said, handing it back to me. “Sorry, kiddo. My mistake.”

The letter itself was beautiful, as a physical artifact: rich paper, careful penmanship, a whisper of quiet rooms and money. 303

This quote is a little while Theo, his dad, and xandra settle back into Las Vegas. He recalls missing hobie and his life in new york. he gets a letter from hobie after a while. His dad opens it but seems uninterested.

This quote allows us to gain more insight to the kind of guy his dad is. He is a very arrogant person who cares little for his son and his interests. While he knows the kind of interesting man Hobie is, he dismisses his sons connection with him. This might be because he does not have this kind of relationship with his son and his dismissive of the value of friendships.

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Unfortunaly, Xandra was shouting too, getting him more wound up, which (I could have told her,if she'd asked) was exactly the wrong way to handle him. At home, my mother had known hoe to suffucate my dad's anger by growing silent, a low, unwavering falme of contempt that sucked all the oxygen out of the room and made everything he said and did seem ridiculus. (277)

Theos dad and xandra get into an argument in the car about directions while getting into vegas.

This quote shows further into the character that his dad is. Often times short tempers when it comes to directions shows that the person can’t handle anger well. This is important to note because Theo has compared the new version of his father to the old version a lot and this is one of the constant traits that he had maintained. Although xandra likes to also compare how he was his theos mother vs her, he still hasn’t changed as much as they’d like to think

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One night we were in San Antonio, and I was having a bit of a melting-down - wanting my own room, you know, my dog, my own bed, and Daddy lifted me up on the fairgrounds and told me to look at the moon. "When you feel homesick," he said, 'just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go.' So after he died, and i had to go to Aunt Bess - I mean, even now, in the city, when I see a full, moon, its like he's telling me to look back or feel sad about things, that home is wherever I am." (313)

Theo recalls this memory of his father when he was younger. They were traveling far and he was homesick. This relates to the current point in the story where he is in Vegas. A new town with people he didn't know and like.

This is one of the very few good memories Theo shares about his father. He seems to hold this memory close to his heart, even though his relationship with his father has a lot of resentment.

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The days were clear and beautiful; and, as September rolled around, the hateful glare gave way to a certain luminosity, a dusty, golden quality. (284)

Theo is moving through Las Vegas for the first couple of times. Its a very different scenery from New York and he zones out while examining his new home.

Despite this drastic move and change, Theo is not completely hateful towards vegas. His grief is still causing a kind of numbness to drastic changes. He could have reacted to this change with refusal, anger, or sadness, yet he accepts that this is what will happen whether he likes it or not. He takes a neutral stand on it. His habit to observe and look at things in a logical point of view, allows him to go with the trajectory of the changes, rather than against.

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Their multilayered complexity was sign I couldn't read, though the general import was clear enough: different tribe, forget about it, I'm way too cool for you, don't even try to talk to me. Such was my mistake first impression of the only friend I made when I was in Vegas, and - as it turned out - one of the great friends of my life. (291)

This is the day of Theos first day of school. He notices the different kind of people and notes that there’s one particular person who catches his interest. This is his first time interacting and seeing Boris.

This quote shows how Theos observant nature allowed him to make this connection to a friend

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“You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.” 253

This quote is describing how much Theo thinks about the painting. He keeps it hidden and safe, but is constantly thinking about it.

The painting has become more of a burden than a keepsake. Theo often wonders about what would happen if anyone found out he had it. The painting holds a lot of sentimental value to him, because of his mother. He can't let it go, even though he knows he has to eventually. But because this was his mother's favorite painting, and it was at the site of where she died, this holds a lot more than just historical value. The longer he holds onto the painting, he thinks he is meant to have it, and it belongs to him. His actions show that he believes that no one could possibly care about it more than he does.

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They were whispering. In the rear view mirror, their faces were goofy and too close together; when I realized they were about to kiss (something that still shocked me, no matter how often I saw them do it), I turned to stare straight ahead. It occured to me that if I didn't already know how my mom had died, no power on earth could have convince me that they hadn't murdered her. 266

This scene is when Theo and his father and xandra arrive to las vegas where he is to live now. They are in the taxi right after they land and theo has been observing their interactions.

Theo feels resentment towards his dad's new life. Although, he never says this explicitly until this moment and doesn't bring it up much after. A lot of his inner dialogue is observations and putting together a timeline, he realizes he started seeing xandra before his dad left them. His thoughts wonder when he realized he wanted to leave, how is he getting money, and if he's happier now. However, he never says he hates his dad for leaving, but the resentment is clear. Because they seemed so unphased about the accident and the results of theo's new life, he feels like they could have been responsible for his mothers death and would feel no remorse.

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When my father drank, he was a twist of nerves—all inappropriate jokes and aggressive bursts of energy, right up until the moment he passed out—but when he stopped drinking, he was worse. 276

When his father lived with Theo and his mom, he was an alcoholic. Theo thinks its odd to see his father sober. He compares his past self with the present.

the effects of his dad's alcholoism was a very normalized concept for theo

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As I watched them sharing a piece of cheesecake like lovebirds in commercial, I sake into a ruddy, unfamiliar free-flow of mind. The dining room lights too bright and my face flaming hot from the champagne, thinking in a disordered but heated way about my mother after her parents died and she had to go live with her Aunt Bess, in a house by the train tracks with brown wallpaper and plastic covers on the furniture.(245)

Theo is at dinner with his father and xandra. they go to a restaurant and xandra give him champagne to share since his father can’t drink. He gets woozy and drifts off into memories. He thinks about the stories his mom says about her life in kansas after her parents died.

Although Xandra knowingly encourages Theo to drink the champagne, theo is also aware of the effects of alcohol because of his father. However, he lets her keep pouring drinks. I think this is another way of his grief showing itself, he stopped refusing things and had become dazed from knowing right and wrong. On top of this, his drunk-thoughts were his reflection of his life in comparison to his mother. Although, his dad is still alive, he has felt for a long time that he was out of his life. And similarly, his mother went through a stage where she didn't have a permanent home until she arrived to new york.

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I still don't know where the money came from, and i wish I had asked more questions, but I was so stunned by everything that happened that day (and more than anything by the sudden appearance of my dad, and xandra) that if Goldie had confronted and tried o give me a piece of old chewing gum he'd scrape off the floor I would have held my hand and taken it just as obediently. 241

Theo returns to his old apartment for the first time since the day of the explosion. His dad returned to town with his girlfriend xandra. He returns and sees his old doormen who give him a gift. It was a wade of cash. They were "paying him back" because his mother lent them money for a computer for one of the doormen's son.

While theo is unsure whether the doormens' story is true, he is still dazed because of how quickly his life is changing once again. There's been a constant theme of theo having to adapt to abrupt change.

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Due perhaps to the unease that had overtaken the household in the wake of Platt’s disgrace, the newspaper now occasionally found it way out of Mr. Barbour's study, where it disassembled itself and re-appeared a page or two at a time

Platt is the eldest son of the Barbours. He was described as rebellious and impatient. He rarely speaks to the children and spends his free time harassing others. He went to college and didn’t live at home until recently. Theo and Andy suspect he got into trouble at school.( 216)

Theo had been cut off from the media. This was an attempt to allow his healing process by protecting him from the cruel details of the accident and anything that might push his healing back. But Theo is curious and he has sneaky ways to get his hands on information. It seems like not many people know what to do for theo and how to help. There was a massive accident and even the adults were in shock by its substantial impact. It has affected most people in the city one way or another. Whether they knew someone from the accident who was injured or hurt, the city closed streets, or they work in a profession that requires working with victims; social workers, health care workers, educators, and counselors.

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And what would I do? Part of me was immobile, stunned with despair, like those rats that lose hope in laboratory experiments and lie down in the maze to starve. 90

Theo is describing the impact of his moms death as he grieves. He has good and bad days but overall the thought of his mom not being their stings.

Theo’s close connection to his mom makes her death more of a shock. I noticed how he went through his stages of grief and a very extreme way. So far he’s been through a very long stage of denial. He waited for hours for her to get home and the numbness he’s feeling might be because he hasn’t fully processed what has happened. Inside he’s feeling helpless, but the adults in his life might see it in a good way. They might think this would be better than crying and anger. And his inability to speak about the situation out loud does not allow others to help him in the way he needs. It fosters a lot of miscommunication between him and the adults in his life.

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“Although, I do have to say, it was difficult to imagine him going that way,” Hobie said, in the abrupt silence that had fallen. “The flash of lightning. Falling over unawares. Had a sense, you do sometimes, that it wasn’t like they said, you know... A goodbye at the gate,” said Hobie. He seemed to be talking partly to himself. “That’s what he would have wanted. The parting glimpse, the death haiku—he wouldn’t have liked to leave without stopping to speak to someone along the way. A teahouse amid the cherry blossoms, on the way to death."164

Hobie was a close friend to Welty. Welty was Pippa’s uncle who passed in the accident. Theo briefly spoke to Welty before he died. Hobie is currently taking care of Pippa and he is describing how he thought Welty wanted his death to be like.

Hobie has had a difficult time coming to realization with Welty's death. The sadness of it and that he is now caring for Pippa. In order to cope, he is trying to rationalize his death and the events that happened. He hopes that it was painless and that Welty had a peaceful death.

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“And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the bus, melting with sorrow and loveliness, a starry ache that lifted me up above the windswept city like a kite: my head in the rainclouds, my heart in the sky.”

Pippa was a girl who Theo spotted at the museum before the accident. He studied her and kept thinking about her before and after everything happened. When the explosion occurred, he looked for her but couldn’t find her. He eventually found her through her grandfather’s old ring and visited her home while she was recovering.

Theo finally feels safe again after his mother's death. His interaction with Pippa was a large stepping stone in his journey to healing. While his visit to Pippa was short, and she would soon leave the state, his love for her personality and the comfort she radiates stays with him throughout the chapter. Part of him might feel like she reminds him of his mother, her soft voice, she speaks in a-matter-of-fact tone, and her intelligence. These parallels are not said by Theo out loud, but his attachment to her shows that he looks for someone who could relate to him.

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Many adults seemed to interpret this numbness as a positive sign; I remember particularly Mr. Beeman . . . complimenting me on my maturity and informing me that I seemed to be ‘coping awfully well.’ . . . But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping (130)

This quote describes how Theo has been coping the the death of his mother. He has spoken to many adults about the accident. His inner dialogue is describing that the people in his life are misinterpreting the magnitude of her death and the impact it has on him.

This is another example of how misinterpretation of Theos emotions have no really been helpful. They might be unemotionally aware of the realities and magnitude of his situation. They think that his reaction, or lack thereof, is healthy. But we see that instead of channeling his grief through crying and emotion, he is fixating on the details of the accident. He constantly thinks about Welty, Pippa, Hobie, the ring, and most importantly, the painting of the finch. He avoids thinking about his mom to avoid feeling heartbroken. But this sets his healing back and increases his obsession for other things.

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"she would be pleased too (at least i thought so) when she saw I'd saved her painting. she might be mad but i could explain. "(81)

Here Theo returns home after miraculously escaping an explosion at a museum he went to with his mother. He hopes to find his mom at home, since they promised that in case of an emergency, they would always meet back at home. But he becomes desperate to pass the time and starts cleaning, hoping that it would please her when she returned.

Theo is very hopeful that she was okay. He was still in shock from the explosion. But he is in denial about the events and the possibility that she might not come home

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"To think of so the apartment something happening was especially frightening because my dad was so unreliable. Unreliable I guess is the diplomatic way way of putting it. Even when he was in a good mood he did things like lose his paycheck and fall asleep with the front door to the apartment open, because he drank." (68)

This quote is about Theo's dad. He isn't mentioned much in the story after, but he is significant to the way he grew up. The dad was never around and Theo felt like he never truly loved him and his mother. He was never reliable, even after his mothers death. He left them with a lot of debt and Theo didn't have much to say to him.

Theo's dad is a minor character at the start of the book. He is seen to be unreliable and not much of a nice guy. This impacts his relationship with Theo and his mom. While he goes to work and provides some financial stability, he is a hostile character who acts like he is forced to stay in that household. His unhappiness with his life is reflected on the way he treats Theo. He blames Theo for the route his life has taken.

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"I was fascinated by strangers wanted to know what food they ate and what dishes they ate it from, what movies they and what music they listed to, wanted to look under their beds and in their secret drawers and night tables and inside the pockets of their coats. Often I saw interesting-looking people on the street and thought about them restlessly for days, imagining their lives, making up stories on the subway or the crosstown bus. "(35)

Theo analyzes his mother, to the way she uses her hands to speak, the pointed shoes she's wearing, the color of her clothes and her facial expressions. He explains him and his friend,Tom, used to 'break into' houses. They were houses for sale that Tom's dad had spare keys too. He was always fascinated about the way people lived, which leads him to pay attention to what kind of items they possess and buy.

Theo was a very observant child. He always had something to say about the way he looks at the world. This trait of his is almost obsessive. He doesn't think that someone would find so much interest in him, but he looks at the world with so much care and attentiveness.

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" 'Oh, you know, just loping and sloping along like I do. No money, holes in my socks, living off oatmeal. Believe it or not I used to walk up here, some weekends. Saving my train far for ride home. That was when they still had tokens instead of cards. And even though you're supposed to pay to get in the museum? The 'suggested donation?' Well, I guess I must have had a lot more nerve back then, or maybe they just feel sorry for me because- Oh no' " (21)

This is the mother talking. She moved from Kansas when she was a teenager to New York- where they currently live with Theo. She talks in a midwestern accent, which isn't explicitly said, but the terms and vocabulary she uses infers that she grew up in a different state. She talks about her early years in New York and how she found her place in the art world. By visiting the museums she was able to find a home in a large city. However, she came from very little money, so she was cautious of the things she bought.

This quote was on of the first scenes where we saw the true personality of Theo's mother. She was described as elegan, but she also had a very matter-of-fact way of speaking with a mix of unseriousness. The way she presented herself was what Theo admired about her.

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Direct quote about protagonist with page number in parenthesis:

"Her death was my fault. Other people have always been a little to quick to assure me that it wasn't; and yes, only a kid, who could have known, terrible accident, rotten luck, could have happened to anyone, it's all perfectly true and I don't believe a word of it. "(Page 9)

Context and explanation:

Theo Decker is 13 years old and narrating the events that led up to his mothers death. He introduces himself and if writing from amsterdam 14 years later. He describes his mother as tall, beautiful, and elegant. The kind of person that people who stop and stare at. While describing her, he mentions how her death was his fault.

Analysis of the quote:

This quote shows that the impact of his mother's death is immense. 14 years later he is still carrying the weight of her death, regardless if it was his fault or not. He has clearly struggled with greif and guilt. This also leads the reader to question, how did she die? If it was from natural causes, it may not have impacted Theo for years and years after. But there were event leading up to her death that made him feel like he was responsible, and his guilt is making it hard for him to move on.