How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt—and there is the story of mankind." (22.4.64)
Well Lee, thank you for your Jedi wisdom. But this is a pretty pessimistic view of things, don't you think? Sure, rejection is a deeply embedded human fear, and it leads to a whole host of other issues, but to call it the story of mankind? That kind of implies that it's pretty miserable to be human. But we think that what Lee is really getting at is this: behind every crime of jealousy is the simple fear of not being loved. Everybody understands this fear, even if they don't think about it. So it's really not about hate, but about love. Duh.
Quote #5
"Do you know, I loved you better than anything in the world? I did. It was so strong that it took quite the killing." (25.3.170)
Contrast what Adam says to Kate here with how he was idealizing her earlier. Before, his head was totally in the clouds with all his you'll-love-it-in-California talk and not actually listening to what she was saying. Now though, it's like Adam sees things as they are for the first time. He sounds grounded and down-to-earth, like all the love has been leeched out of him (or shot, as it were). Also note that he uses the past tense: loved instead of love. Meaning he doesn't love Kate anymore. Things look different without love-goggles on, don't they?
Quote #6
A pain pierced Cal's heart. His planning suddenly seemed mean and dirty to him. He knew that his brother had found him out. And he felt a longing for Aron to love him. He felt lost and hungry and he didn't know what to do. (30.1.79)
Occasionally Cal will get some perspective and realize what he really wants, which is just a little bit of love and recognition. But most of the time, he's too busy trying to take Aron (and anyone who likes Aron) down a notch. We're talking motivations here, and usually motivations aren't obvious—sometimes they're even counterintuitive. After all, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to be mean to someone who you actually want to love you.