How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Because," Adam said excitedly, "we are descended from this. This is our father. Some of our guilt is absorbed in our ancestry. What chance did we have? We are the children of our father. It means we aren't the first. It's an excuse, and there aren't enough excuses in the world." (22.4.40)
This refers to the guilt and punishment Cain takes with him when he high-tails it out of Eden. Adam is really down with this idea of nothing being our fault. Blame everything on our parents, right? Okay, so while we do get a lot from our parents, both good and bad, we can only take the excuses so far. We'll see this idea of using ancestry as an excuse come up later again in the novel when Cal finds out about Kate.
Quote #5
"I hate her because I know why she went away. I know—because I've got her in me." (38.3.49)
What does it mean to have your parents in you? Does it mean that if your father started balding at age twenty then you will too? Does it mean that we inherit their personalities? Cal is afraid that he might just be a little too similar to Kate for there to be any hope of not being like her. What's more, he understands Kate, and Kate is inscrutable to most people (except to Charles, whom Cal suspiciously resembles in more ways than one)—that's a pretty strong sign that he has gotten more from Kate than just her eyes or hair color.
Quote #6
Suddenly she knew that she did not want Aron to know about her. Maybe he could come to her in New York. He would think she had always lived in an elegant little house on the East Side. She would take him to the theater, to the opera, and people would see them together and wonder at their loveliness, and recognize that they were either brother and sister or mother and son. (45.4.10)
Whoa—is Kate actually showing some maternal instincts? We never thought we'd see the day, but apparently Aron's luscious golden locks can make anybody fall in love with him. Actually, it might just literally be Aron's looks that win Kate over: she seems to really dig that he looks like her, to the point that maybe they could be mistaken for siblings (yeah right, Kate). But isn't it strange that Kate should want her son to be her brother? And isn't it weird that Aron is like the exact opposite of Kate personality-wise? It's almost like Aron is Kate minus all of the evil—and maybe that's why Kate finds herself strangely drawn to him.