How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Which is not to say that we, me and Mama, were any better than the Hardbines or had a dime to our name. If you were to look at the two of us, myself and Newt side by side in the sixth grade, you could have pegged us for brother and sister. And for all I ever knew of my own daddy I can't say we weren't, except for Mama swearing up and down that he was nobody I knew and was long gone besides. (1.4)
Taylor doesn't really suspect or believe that Newt Hardbine could be her brother: she has too much faith in her Mama's word for that. By imagining that Newt could be taken for her brother, Taylor sets him up as her foil. Newt is a tragic symbol of what Taylor's life might have been like were it not for her Mama's guidance and love.
Quote #2
There were two things about Mama. One is she always expected the best out of me. And the other is that then no matter what I did, whatever I came home with, she acted like it was the moon I had just hung up in the sky and plugged in all the stars. Like I was that good. (1.46)
Taylor's self-confidence and self-respect don't come from nowhere: she knows how much she owes to her Mama's care and support. If you want more proof of the difference a kind, encouraging parent can make, compare Taylor's self-esteem to Lou Ann's. Whereas Taylor grew up being told that she could do anything she put her mind to, Lou Ann grew up under constant criticism—criticism she now dishes out to herself every minute of the day. Hey, telling yourself you look like cat puke isn't a sign of a happy camper.
Quote #3
All my life, Mama had talked about the Cherokee Nation as our ace in the hole. She'd had an old grandpa that was full-blooded Cherokee, one of the few that got left behind in Tennessee because he was too old or too ornery to get marched over to Oklahoma. Mama would say, "If we run out of luck we can always go live on the Cherokee Nation." She and I both had enough blood to qualify. According to Mama, if you're one-eighth or more they let you in. She called this our "head rights." (1.61)
Alice and Taylor get a certain satisfaction from claiming their Cherokee heritage, but neither woman really understands what it would mean to call themselves Cherokee, or get themselves officially enrolled. For both of them, Alice Stamper's Cherokee grandpa is nearly a mythic figure: they know enough to claim his blood, but not his culture.