POST: Great Lines from Member of the Wedding (closing 9/30)

"They are the we of me." -Frankie

This quote was states several times throughout the book and symbolized how much Frankie wanted to be a member of any group. She was happy when she was a member of many groups as a child and this quote demonstrated that she remained innocent, even though she was outgrowing her youth. She yearned to be part of a group and replaced her emptiness with her brother and his bride, calling them the "we of me." Throughout the book, she searched for the purpose of who she was and who she belonged with. Throughout her childhood, she was always with a group, however, during the summer, she was growing out of her childhood. She had trouble with this however in the end, she moved on with her life and made a friend, completing herself.

"It happened that green and crazy summer when Frankie was twelve years old. This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member. She belonged to no club and was a member of nothing in the world. Frankie had become an unjoined person who hung around in doorways, and she was afraid."

Right there, the quote sets the scene of the book. It shows how everyone is hot and sluggish, and nothing has happened all summer. It also shows right away Frankie's insecurities and fears that she doesn't belong or fit in. This sets the precedent for what she tries to do during the book.

"We are all caught"

I really enjoyed this quote because i thought it is very true. People are caught y who they are and where they were born and thats just life.

"We are all caught"

I like this quote in the book. It has a different meaning for each character. For Berenice, it means that she is caught being black and she cannot change what she is. Yet, for Frankie, it means she is caught in the house and can't make any more friends. She is caught being who she is.

"The air was chilled, and day after day the sky was a clear green-blue, but filled with light, the color of a shallow wave." (390) I love how McCullers sets the tone in one sentence. In just one sentence she captures the perfect summer day and describes it to her readers. I know exactly what she's talking about and she accomplishes that without taking up a page trying to explain!

"It was better to be in a jail where you could bang the walls than in a jail you could not see."- Frankie p. 148

I really feel like this line reallly expressed frankies feelings and emotions. I think she said this because she herself feels trapped in this town and that is why she often feels like tearing it down. It also shows the guilt she has harboring inside herself from all the things she has done.

[quote="dur_its_jennifer"]
"'This' she said. ' I see a green tree. And to me it is green. And you would call the tree green also. And we would agree on this. But is the color you see as green the same color as I see as green? Or say we both call a color black. But how do we know that what you see as black is the same color I see as black?'
Bernice said after a moment: ' Those things we just cannot prove.'" (pg 109)

haha!!!
last year kayla cassie and all got all confused with this very thing!!!!! somehow we thought of it and i find it nice to know that other people think of wierd things like this

"A last difference about that morning was the way her world seemed layered in three different parts, all the twelve years of the old Frankie, the present day itself, and the future ahead when the three of them would be together in all the many distant places."

I like this quote especially out of the many ones that could have been drawn out of the novel. It caught my eye while reading and I jotted it down just for a quote refference. It essentially shows how Frankie was developing in a way so quick it was like she was housing and nurturing another form while using her old and present one for other occasions. Surprisingly, it implies that Frankie would never quite lose the arrogant little brat in her, but rather grow with it and meld it together with her posh side.

'Listen, ' F. Jasmine said. 'What I've been trying to say is this. Doesn't it strike you as strange that I am I, and you are you? I am F. Jasmine Addams. And you are Berenice Sadie Brown. And we can look at each other, and touch each other, and stay together, year in and year out, in the same room. Yet I am I, and you are you. And I can't ever be anything else but me, and you can't ever be anything else but you. Have you ever thought of that? And does it seem to you strange?'" page 109

I loved how deep this was. Frankie was almost like a little philosopher

"they are the we of me"
frankie believed jarvis and janice made up her; completed her in a way

I definitely have to say that "they are the we of me" is a great line from the novel. It represents how Frankie sees herself as a person. She thinks that Jarvis and Janice are connected with her so she wants to be with them and travel the world with them.

"If you start with A and go on up to G, there is a curious thing that seems to make the difference between G and A all the difference in the world. Twice as much difference as between any other two notes in the scale. Yet they are side by side there on the piano just as close together as the other notes."
This is kind of a metaphor for the way Frankie was feeling at that time. She felt disconnected to the world.

"Grey eyes is glass." -John Henry
It showed to me how John Henry seemed kind of like an "old soul"

"...while we're talking right now, this very minute is passing. And it will never come again."
To me this quote "speaks" volumes about many different subjects. First of all, it shows us that time never stands still, no matter how hard one may try to stop it. Also, once an interval of time is gone, it is gone forever, and it may never be taken back. Therefore, one might as well do something worthwhile with their time than waste it. If one person does waste their time however, then all they can do is look back and pitifully remorse on what could have and should have been but was never and shall never be. This is contrary to one being able to look back at the time well spent feeling happy and content that they did something worthwhile. All in all, I think it's a very thoughtful yet scary quote about life.

The famous "They are the 'we' of me" quote. (page 39)

For me, I thought that was a simple, but thought-provoking quote. It gave me a moment to think about the meaning of the quote, and also think about which people were the 'we' of me. I never actually thought about a 'we' being a part of anyone. From the way Frankie explained it, I received a conception that the 'we' is more than just a definition of a group of special people in one's life; the 'we' of a person almost defines their life itself. When Frankie decided that her brother and his fiance were the 'we' of her, it was also decided that she was to strive to live with them in Winter Hill for the rest of her life.

"They are the we of me". That was the only line of the book that just made me sit back and try to figure out what Frankie meant by saying this. Then I got it. She said that everybody has someone or something in their life that they feel like they must hold on to. For Frankie, her "we" was Janice and Jarvis.

Dno222 wrote:

Pg. 113 "We all of us somehow caught."
Bernice started talking about being caught with this sentence. The phrase expresses that we are "caught" or placed into life as a person, any size, shape, race and there is nothing we can possibly do to change its course or destination. We are who we are. You are you and me is me and nothing can ever change that.

I agree with the statement here. I think that it is interesting how hopeless you can feel about change sometimes but you just can't do anything about the situation you are in sometimes and it is frustrating.

"They are the we of me"

I found it strange that Frankie would say that of Janice and Jarvice. They probably don't think that Frankie is part of their we. Frankie said she definitely wouldn't want John Henry and Berenice to be her we but it seems like they are the real we of Frankie.

“They are the we of me” (p. 39)

This quote symbolizes how Frankie much Frankie wanted to become a member of a group and find unity with others. The "they" is referring to Jarvis and Janice. She was happy when she was a member of many groups as a child. She yearned to be part of a group and replaced her loneliness with her brother and his bride, calling them the "we of me." Frankie finds meaning in her life in the belief that she belongs to some kind of a club, that she is a member of society at last.
This is one of the most fundamental and important quotes in the novel. It exemplifies the nature of Frankie's main struggle, to become accepted in society and to find unity with others. The second sentence of the book states that "This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member." When Frankie at last realizes that she is a member of the wedding, it is a great contribution to future character development. However, it also causes her to realize after the wedding that she was very naïve to believe that she belonged to her brother and his wife in more than just a distant way. In contrast to the hope of her first beliefs about the "we of me," this realization allows Frankie to finally mature and become more adult-like.