Below me, in the foundations of the house, I could hear the clothes I'd buried there growing themselves a body.
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
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In "Lady Oracle," Margaret Atwood reflects on the complex relationships between identity, memory, and the past. The quote highlights the protagonist's sense of transformation, as buried clothes symbolize both suppressed memories and the inescapability of one's history. This imagery suggests that the remnants of the past can resurface, taking on a life of their own and becoming a part of one's current existence.

The narrative explores the theme of reinvention versus acceptance, illustrating how the protagonist grapples with her self-image while confronting her buried truths. Atwood's writing captures the struggle of reconciling one's past with the present, emphasizing that, like the clothes, our experiences shape us, even when we attempt to conceal them.

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Lady Oracle
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Margaret Atwood
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Other quotes in Lady Oracle

There was always that shadowy twin, thin when i was fat, fat when i was thin, myself in silvery narrative...
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
There was always that shadowy twin, thin when i was fat, fat when i was thin, myself in silvery narrative...
He had been with me, but he wasn't with me now, we had been walking along a street like this one and then the future swept over us and we were separated. He was in the distance now, across the ocean, on a beach, the wind ruffling his hair, I could hardly see his features. He was moving at an ever-increasing speed away from me, into the land of the dead, the dead past, irretrievable.
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
He had been with me, but he wasn't with me now, we had been walking along a street like this one and then the future swept over us and we were separated. He was in the distance now, across the ocean, on a beach, the wind ruffling his hair, I could hardly see his features. He was moving at an ever-increasing speed away from me, into the land of the dead, the dead past, irretrievable.
Besides, who would think of marrying a mothball? A question my mother put to me often, later, in other forms.
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
Besides, who would think of marrying a mothball? A question my mother put to me often, later, in other forms.
I would pore for hours over the stalls of worn necklaces, sets of gilt spoons, sugar tongs in the shape of hen's feet or midget hands, clocks that didn't work, flowered china, spotty mirrors and ponderous furniture, the flotsam left by those receding centuries in which, more and more, I was living.
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
I would pore for hours over the stalls of worn necklaces, sets of gilt spoons, sugar tongs in the shape of hen's feet or midget hands, clocks that didn't work, flowered china, spotty mirrors and ponderous furniture, the flotsam left by those receding centuries in which, more and more, I was living.
I sang out the words unflinchingly though, as I stomped around the toadstool in clouds of church-basement dust, with a damp Gnome hand clutched in each of mine.
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
I sang out the words unflinchingly though, as I stomped around the toadstool in clouds of church-basement dust, with a damp Gnome hand clutched in each of mine.
you can't change the past,Aunt Lou used to say.Oh, but I wanted to;that was the one thing I really wanted to do
Margaret Atwood Lady Oracle
you can't change the past,Aunt Lou used to say.Oh, but I wanted to;that was the one thing I really wanted to do
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All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
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"That's a huge gamble." "We're long past the time for careful certainty."
When had it become so ingrained in her to apologize whenever she wanted something for herself?
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When had it become so ingrained in her to apologize whenever she wanted something for herself?
Relationships and marriages are hard enough, but you add war into the mix and small fissures become gaping wounds. No one sees what you're seeing - again that clear-eyed, unbiased thing - except your fellow soldiers. It's like one of those movies where only the hero can see the ghosts and everyone else thinks the hero is crazy.
Harlan Coben Fool Me Once
Relationships and marriages are hard enough, but you add war into the mix and small fissures become gaping wounds. No one sees what you're seeing - again that clear-eyed, unbiased thing - except your fellow soldiers. It's like one of those movies where only the hero can see the ghosts and everyone else thinks the hero is crazy.
I think I couldn't love him at all if he was the sort of man to make me choose between him and my writing. And
Meljean Brook The Kraken King and the...
I think I couldn't love him at all if he was the sort of man to make me choose between him and my writing. And
Sociologists have a theory of the looking - glass self. You become what the most important person in your life {wife, father, boss, etc.} thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?
Philip Yancey What's So Amazing About...
Sociologists have a theory of the looking - glass self. You become what the most important person in your life {wife, father, boss, etc.} thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?
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