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Helen Oyeyemi Quotes

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Famous Helen Oyeyemi Quotes

“Miss Foxe's other passion was fairy tales. She loved the transformations in them. Everybody was in disguise, or on their way to becoming something else. And all was overcome by order in the end. Love could not prevail if the order of the tale didn't wish it, and neither could hatred, nor grief, nor cunning. If you were the first of three siblings, then you were going to make a big mistake, and that was that. If you were the third sibling, you couldn't fail.”

StorytellingDisguiseFairy TalesLiteraryTropesHelen OyeyemiMr FoxTransformations
Book:Mr. Fox
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“One of them was directly descended from Nathaniel Hawthorne who wrote 'The Scarlet letter'. Mom says everybody immediately began to feel oppressed by their humble backgrounds because they'd forgotten (or didn't know) that anyone who's descended from Nathaniel Hawthorne is also a descendant of John Hathorne, the Salem judge who put just about as many innocent people to death as he could, so was it any wonder that Hawthorne was so good at describing what it felt like to be racked with guilt day and night.”

Heredity
Book:Boy, Snow, Bird
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“Finally, he smiled, and although his smile was bumpy because some of his teeth were jagged and broken, it was a warming, infectious smile that was reflected in his eyes. It made her smile widely in return. She felt as if the room had been lit up. He held out his arms, and she went across the room to him, almost running. She buried her face in his shirt, her nose wrinkling up as the scent of his cologne mixed with the nutty, sourish smell of camphor that filled the room. He put his arms around her, but gently, so that there was space between his forearms and her back, holding her as if she was to fragile to hug properly. Awkwardly, he patted her light, bushy aureole of dark brown hair, repeating: "Good girl. Fine daughter.”

LoveFamilyTendernessGrandfatherShynessNigeriaGranddaughterRelativesAfro HairCamphorDark Brown Hair
Book:The Icarus Girl
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“I’m never sad when a friend goes far away, because whichever city or country that friend goes to, they turn the place friendly. They turn a suspicious-looking name on the map into a place where a welcome can be found. Maybe the friend will talk about you sometimes, to other friends that live around him, and then that’s almost as good as being there yourself. You’re in several places at once! In fact, my daughter, I would even go so far as to say that the further away your friends, and the more spread out they are the better your chances of going safely through the world…”

FriendshipFriendsTravelingMoving Away
Book:Mr. Fox
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“She says they didn't marry for love and neither of them really tried to make it grow, they sort of just expected to love each other after a certain number of years but it didn't work out that way. All that happened was that she'd be having a nice day until she suddenly realized he'd be back from work in ten minutes, or he'd look at her during a gospel service and the sight of her seemed to get him all upset even though she was wearing a nice dress, and spotless gloves, and a smile.”

Marriage
Book:Boy, Snow, Bird
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