How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Ammu," Chacko said, his voice steady and deliberately casual, "is it at all possible for you to prevent your washed-up cynicism from completely coloring everything?"
Silence filled the car like a saturated sponge. "Washed up" cut like a knife through a soft thing. The sun shone with a shuddering sigh. This was the trouble with families. Like invidious doctors, they knew just where it hurt. (2.238)
Throughout the novel, we see that being related to someone doesn't necessarily mean that you like them or are nice to them. Here we see that Chacko knows exactly how to push Ammu's buttons.
Quote #5
"Feeling hot, baby?" the man like a knot asked Rahel kindly in Malayalam.
Then, unkindly, "Ask your daddy to buy you an Air Condition!" and he hooted with delight at his own wit and timing. Rahel smiled back at him, pleased to have Chacko mistaken for her father. Like a normal family. (2.304-305)
This guy is being a total jerk, but Rahel barely notices it because she's so glad that he sees her family as normal and complete.
Quote #6
Baron von Trapp had some questions of his own.
(a) Are they clean white children?
No. (But Sophie Mol is.)
(b) Do they blow spit bubbles?
Yes. (But Sophie Mol doesn't.)
(c) Do they shiver their legs? Like clerks?
(d) Yes. (But Sophie Mol doesn't.)
(e) Have they, either or both, ever held strangers' soo-soos?
N...Nyes. (But Sophie Mol hasn't.)
"Then I'm sorry," Baron von Clapp-Trapp said. "It's out of the question. I cannot love them. I cannot be their Baba. Oh no."
Baron von Clapp-Trapp couldn't. (4.130-140)
OK, even if you find the kids' preoccupation with The Sound of Music silly, this moment might just be one of the most quietly heartbreaking episodes of the book. Not only do we see that Estha wishes he had a father, he can't even imagine a father capable of loving him. Estha's stomach might be in knots right now, but our hearts are totally in pieces.