How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I should of been in school that April day. (1.1)
Did you spot the grammar mistake? Listen, we're not total sticklers—there's a time and a place for funky grammar. But we're pretty sure the author is trying to show us something by having Rob speak like this right off the bat. This is a kid who hasn't spent hours and hours learning his cursive, that's for sure.
Quote #2
"I ought to lick you proper for leaving the schoolhouse."
"Yes, Papa. You ought."
"Someday you want to walk into the bank in Learning and write down your name, don't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"I don't cotton to raise a fool." (2.42-46)
Clearly Papa is serious about Rob's getting an education. Do you think it's because he didn't get an education himself and he's trying to live vicariously through his son? Or is there something more to it?
Quote #3
"It all goes way back."
"Way back to what?"
"Back to reason. Something that modern townfolk don't care a lick for. They don't understand it, so they think it to be tomfool." (3.77-79)
Hmmm. Even with all their learning, those townfolk apparently still don't have all the answers. Papa suggests that there's an older kind of knowledge, a wisdom that comes from a close connection to the land and something that the educated folk in town have lost sight of. Do you buy it?