Quotable Quotes

She put on her white silk gloves and took out a roll of twine. "Now just keep looking at me," she said. She tied White Dog to the tree. (Otsuka 11)

   I believe this quote is significant because it shows insight and symbolism. This quote occurs when the woman has to make the painful decision to kill her dog before she and her family are forced to leave their home. It shows insight into the woman's life because it tells us she owns a pair of white gloves. If a woman owned a pair of white gloves in the 1940's, it normally meant she belonged to the upper class and needed white gloves for specific high-class occasions. The fact that she chooses to wear her pristine, white gloves to kill her dog demonstrates that the gloves no longer have importance in her life. This quote shows symbolism because it mentions the color white, which is frequently mentioned throughout the story. In the story, the color white has a few meanings, specifically purity. The woman puts on her white gloves to keep her hands clean and, perhaps, to keep herself from feeling responsible for her actions. After killing her White dog, the woman notes her gloves are no longer white and throws them away. The tarnished gloves symbolize how her life has not been the same since Pearl Harbor and may never be again. 

"Last night it was too cold," she said, but now it's so hot I can hardly breathe. Everything keeps on changing.""Isn't that right," said the man. (Otsuka 33)

   This quote occurs while the family is still on the train and the girl is having a conversation with a man on the train. I believe this quote is significant because it shows how the girl is beginning to understand how life is not supposed to stay the same forever. The man's reaction to her statement is not encouraging or discouraging; it is simply a statement of fact. Although the people on the train are in dire circumstance, it was naive for the girl to think her life was never going to change. Her general statement about change demonstrates how she realizes she has no control over the changes occurring in her life and the man's answer to her statement demonstrates how she needs to try to make the best of her situation and hang on for the ride.