“The past is more real to him than the present.”

This quote comes from Aunt Blythe and describes Father’s experience of the world. Drew and Aunt Blythe interpret this to mean Father suffers from dementia, but later Drew discovers that his great-grandfather may be seeing the same ghosts Drew sees. This line foreshadows the blending of past and present that follows in the book.

“‘Drew’s a good kid,’ he was saying. ‘But he’s so insecure—worries, chews his nails, has trouble sleeping.’”

Drew’s father says this line to Aunt Blythe. Drew feels bitter and insulted that his parents see him this way, but he struggles to change their view of him or move beyond the expectations of how he will behave. He does not yet have the self-assuredness to push back or address the parts of himself he wants to change.

“Poor Father. Sometimes I think he hates the whole world, including himself.”

Aunt Blythe describes Father with empathy even though he treats Drew with open hostility. She exhibits a social attitude of her time that seeks to find the humanity in difficult people and recognize that their cruelty comes from a place of pain. Later, Drew sees the seeds of Father’s self-loathing in Edward’s bullying behavior.