Quotes Flashcards
“Things started…”
“Things started to fall apart at home”
• pays homage to/echoes the most famous novel by the author’s inspiration Chinua Achebe who wrote “Things Fall Apart”
“His line…”
“His line moved the slowest because he pressed hard on each forehead to make a perfect cross”
• with reference to Papa and his perfectionism
“Papa always sat…”
“Papa always sat in the front pew for mass”
“He was first…”
“He was first to receive communion”
“…when he said ‘native’…”
“…when he said ‘native’ his straight-line lips turned down at the corners to form an inverted U…”
• Father Benedict looked down on the Nigerians
“Father Benedict usually…”
“Father Benedict usually referred to the pope, Papa, and Jesus – in that order”
“Papa said modesty…”
“Papa said modesty was very important”
“The wafer…”
“The wafer gives me bad breath”
• Jaja purposely trying to aggravate Papa by disrespecting the host in calling it a wafer
“Then I…”
“Then I will die”
“Fear had…”
“Hear had darkened Jaja’s eyes”
“She stared at…”
“She stared at the figuring pieces in the floor and then knelt and started to pick them up with her bare hands”
• Mama’s submissive nature
“I felt suffocated…”
I felt suffocated… Even the glass dining table was moving towards me”
“A love sip…”
“A love sip, he called it, because you shared the little things you loved with the people you loved”
“when the tea…”
“when the tea burnt my tongue, it burned Papa’s love into me”
“Careful, Mama…”
“Careful, Mama, or those pieces will cut your finger”
• Jaja looking out for his mother
