How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
They were not badly off whilst Morel was in the hospital. There were fourteen shillings a week from the pit, then shillings from the sick club, and five shillings from the Disability Fund; and then every week the butties had something for Mrs. Morel—five or seven shillings—so that she was quite well to do. (5.58)
When Walter gets injured in the mine, the Morel family enjoys a period of peacefulness. They're even better off financially, because Walter's not around spending all of the family income on booze and gambling. We think it's a pretty bad sign if your family does a lot better when you're not around.
Quote #8
There was always this feeling of jangle and discord in the Leivers family. Although the boys resented so bitterly this eternal appeal to their deeper feelings of resignation and proud humility, yet it had its effect on them. They could not establish between themselves and an outsider just the ordinary human feeling and unexaggerated friendship; they were always restless for something deeper. Ordinary folk seemed shallow to them, trivial and inconsiderable. (7.68)
Here, Lawrence gives us insight into a family that's not the Morels. The Leivers are very different from the Morels because they are always talking to one another with emotional depth. Mrs. Morel and Walter are practical people, while the Leivers are religious and philosophical. This makes it tough for the Leivers to accept outsiders into their home, but Paul eventually breaks into their fold. Until he rejects Miriam like a zillion times, anyway.
Quote #9
It was not his art Mrs. Morel cared about; it was himself and his achievement. But Mrs. Leivers and her children were almost his disciples. They kindled him and made him quietly determined, patient, dogged, unwearied. (7.78)
Mrs. Morel isn't all that interested in how deep her son is. All she cares about is Paul winning first prize in art contests and "moving up in the world." The Leivers, on the other hand, appreciate Paul's intellectual and emotional intelligence and love him for it. You can see how they might give Paul something his own family can't provide.