Elatsoe

by

Darcie Little Badger

Mom/Vivian Character Analysis

Ellie’s mom, Vivian, is a high-school math teacher. Since she has summers off of school, she immediately flies to Allerton to be with Lenore and Gregory in the wake of Trevor’s murder. Like Ellie, she can summon the dead, though she must enter a state of deep meditation in order to do so. Vivian is one of Ellie’s most present and important mentors. She often tells stories, including Lipan legends, family lore, and Greek myths, to introduce Ellie and other young people to important ideas. She’s also the one to tell Ellie the story of how Six-Great died.

Mom/Vivian Quotes in Elatsoe

The Elatsoe quotes below are all either spoken by Mom/Vivian or refer to Mom/Vivian. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family and Friendship Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

“Mom told me, ‘Don’t be like Icarus, Ellie. Caution is our friend.’ Because I was immature back then, I asked, ‘Aren’t we supposed to take risks?’”

“That’s a good question,” Jay said. “Not immature at all.”

“Mom thought I was being—in her words—obstinate,” Ellie said. [...] “What I’m trying say is: this summer, investigating my cousin’s murder, we might skirt the line between wise and unwise danger. It’s hard to know that you’re flying too high until the feathers start dropping.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Jay (speaker), Trevor, Mom/Vivian
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“The two made off with four hundred dollars, Marlboros, and ten bags of dried meat. I remember a news reporter saying, ‘They killed a man for just four hundred dollars.’ And I thought that the word ‘just’ was completely unnecessary. No amount of money would make the crime less heinous. I don’t care if there was four billion dollars in that register, Ellie.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 138-139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

“If I’m right,” Dan said, “you won’t need to stop waking ghosts, as long as you’re mindful of the difference between the dead and the living.” He wagged a finger at Ellie, as if lecturing a class of rowdy toddlers. “There is a difference. The dead should not seem like kin. When they do? They might devour you.”

Related Characters: Dan (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Mom/Vivian, Kirby
Page Number: 229-230
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

“Be patient. Have faith.” Vivian put her arms around Lenore and Ellie and pulled them into a hug.

“Faith in what?” Lenore asked, and she sounded genuinely curious and a little bit spiteful. “Justice?”

“Family,” Vivian said. “It’s all we’ve ever had.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Lenore (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 240-241
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“But you knew the story,” Vivian said. “Somebody told it to you?”

“Yeah. A teacher. I can’t remember which one. Could have been during English class a few years ago.”

“Did it help you learn about volume, density, and displacement?”

“Uh-huh. It’s hard to forget a story about Archimedes streaking through a city. The mental image alone is burned into my mind.”

“It helps my students, too,” she said. “That’s why some stories are particularly important. They’re more than entertainment. They’re knowledge.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Mom/Vivian (speaker), Six-Great
Page Number: 244-245
Explanation and Analysis:

“Only one kind of monster uses guns,” Vivian said.

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Ellie, Six-Great, Six-Great’s Husband
Page Number: 246
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

Vivian wondered if she’d made the right decision by bringing Ellie to the party. She admired her daughter’s courage. Of course she did! But the world presented too many opportunities for brave people to risk their lives. Wisdom helped reduce those risks; the inexperience of youth increased them.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Mom/Vivian, Al, Ronnie
Page Number: 305
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36 Quotes

“There’s a lot I want to learn,” Ellie said. “My mother, her mother, and my grandmother’s mother taught me about the way of our land, our dead, and our monsters, but the times have changed. I need college to prepare for the next Willowbee.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Mom/Vivian, Jay, Six-Great, Grandmother
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 351
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mom/Vivian Quotes in Elatsoe

The Elatsoe quotes below are all either spoken by Mom/Vivian or refer to Mom/Vivian. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family and Friendship Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

“Mom told me, ‘Don’t be like Icarus, Ellie. Caution is our friend.’ Because I was immature back then, I asked, ‘Aren’t we supposed to take risks?’”

“That’s a good question,” Jay said. “Not immature at all.”

“Mom thought I was being—in her words—obstinate,” Ellie said. [...] “What I’m trying say is: this summer, investigating my cousin’s murder, we might skirt the line between wise and unwise danger. It’s hard to know that you’re flying too high until the feathers start dropping.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Jay (speaker), Trevor, Mom/Vivian
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

“The two made off with four hundred dollars, Marlboros, and ten bags of dried meat. I remember a news reporter saying, ‘They killed a man for just four hundred dollars.’ And I thought that the word ‘just’ was completely unnecessary. No amount of money would make the crime less heinous. I don’t care if there was four billion dollars in that register, Ellie.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 138-139
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

“If I’m right,” Dan said, “you won’t need to stop waking ghosts, as long as you’re mindful of the difference between the dead and the living.” He wagged a finger at Ellie, as if lecturing a class of rowdy toddlers. “There is a difference. The dead should not seem like kin. When they do? They might devour you.”

Related Characters: Dan (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Mom/Vivian, Kirby
Page Number: 229-230
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

“Be patient. Have faith.” Vivian put her arms around Lenore and Ellie and pulled them into a hug.

“Faith in what?” Lenore asked, and she sounded genuinely curious and a little bit spiteful. “Justice?”

“Family,” Vivian said. “It’s all we’ve ever had.”

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Lenore (speaker), Ellie, Trevor, Dr. Abe Allerton
Page Number: 240-241
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“But you knew the story,” Vivian said. “Somebody told it to you?”

“Yeah. A teacher. I can’t remember which one. Could have been during English class a few years ago.”

“Did it help you learn about volume, density, and displacement?”

“Uh-huh. It’s hard to forget a story about Archimedes streaking through a city. The mental image alone is burned into my mind.”

“It helps my students, too,” she said. “That’s why some stories are particularly important. They’re more than entertainment. They’re knowledge.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Mom/Vivian (speaker), Six-Great
Page Number: 244-245
Explanation and Analysis:

“Only one kind of monster uses guns,” Vivian said.

Related Characters: Mom/Vivian (speaker), Ellie, Six-Great, Six-Great’s Husband
Page Number: 246
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

Vivian wondered if she’d made the right decision by bringing Ellie to the party. She admired her daughter’s courage. Of course she did! But the world presented too many opportunities for brave people to risk their lives. Wisdom helped reduce those risks; the inexperience of youth increased them.

Related Characters: Ellie, Trevor, Mom/Vivian, Al, Ronnie
Page Number: 305
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 36 Quotes

“There’s a lot I want to learn,” Ellie said. “My mother, her mother, and my grandmother’s mother taught me about the way of our land, our dead, and our monsters, but the times have changed. I need college to prepare for the next Willowbee.”

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Mom/Vivian, Jay, Six-Great, Grandmother
Related Symbols: Mushrooms/Willowbee
Page Number: 351
Explanation and Analysis: