How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I believe he looks upon us as his family. Is it not queer, and both desolating and comforting, how, with all associations broken, one forms new ones, as a broken bone thickens in healing." (7.3.82)
Susan is talking about Charley Wan here, by the way. It's interesting: Susan was actually a bit racist toward Chinese immigrants when she first encountered them, but now she considers a Chinese man to be a beloved member of her family. This is yet another reminder that family isn't always about blood bonds and all that stuff—it's about community.
Quote #8
She did not want this baby. It made her desolate to think what it would be born into. (7.4.46)
Good grief—things have really changed. What happened to the blissfully happy family we met so many chapters ago? How could things have gotten so bad in such a short amount of time?
Quote #9
Feeling [...] drove him across the bridge against the warnings of his conscience—a horrified sympathy for his mother's pain [...]. (7.4.164)
Even when things are rough between mommy and daddy, Susan and Oliver can count on their children. Although it doesn't seem like it at times, young Ollie loves his mama more than anything in the whole entire world. After all, they're a family.