Normal, in our house, is like a blanket too short for a bed--sometimes it covers you just fine, and other times it leaves you cold and shaking; and worst of all, you never know which of the two it's going to be.
Jodi PicoultRead
It was a strange thing, to still be in love with your wife and to not know if you liked her. What would happen when this was all over? Could you forgive someone if she hurt you and the people you love, if she truly believed she was only trying to help? I had filed for divorce, but that wasn't what I really wanted. What I really wanted was for all of us to go back two years, and start over. Had I ever really told her that?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the complexities of love and relationships, where feelings of affection can coexist with uncertainty and hurt.
In this quote, Jodi Picoult delves into the intricate dynamics of love and forgiveness within a marriage. The speaker grapples with conflicting emotions, feeling deeply in love with his wife while simultaneously questioning his fondness for her due to past grievances. This ambiguity raises profound questions about the nature of relationships, the capacity for forgiveness, and the desire to recapture lost time, expressing a longing for a fresh start despite present struggles.
Themes
LoveForgivenessRelationshipsMarriageConflictEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a counseling session to illustrate the complexities of love.
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she told me she'd be a phoenix." The image of the mythical creature rising from the ashes glitters in my mind. "They don't really exist." "She said that depends on whether or not there's someone who can see them.
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for 100,000 (dollars), you [can] flatten a house with a wrecking ball. Imagine how much less it [takes] to destroy something than it [does] to build it in the first place.
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But if you seek forgiveness, doesn't that automatically mean you cannot be a monster? By definition, doesn't that desperation make you human again?
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when you [lose someone], it feels like the hole in your gum when a tooth falls out. You can chew, you can eat, you have plenty of other teeth, but your tongue keeps going back to that empty place, where all nerves are still a little raw
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