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Jenna’s Father/Matthew Fox
Lily, grandmother to Jenna Fox and mother to Claire Fox, is the former “chief of internal medicine at Boston University Hospital.” Her husband, Jenna’s grandfather, died in the Aureus epidemic, an antibiotic-resistant infection that killed 25% of the world’s population in Jenna’s early childhood. Lily blames scientific overreach for the creation of antibiotic-resistant infections. As a result, she is extremely skeptical of Claire and Matthew Fox’s decision to save Jenna’s life through illegal biotechnology. Due to the extent of the biotechnological interventions, Lily is at first not even sure that post-accident Jenna is really her granddaughter. Yet over the course of the novel, Lily comes to believe that post-accident Jenna is the “old Jenna,” and she defends Jenna against her parents’ controlling and overprotective behavior. She also helps Jenna destroy the uploads that Matthew created of Jenna’s friends Kara and Locke’s minds, freeing them from disembodied torment. At the novel’s end, Lily—a practicing Catholic— rebaptizes Jenna to signal her love of Jenna and her belief that Jenna is a human being with a soul despite her cyborg body.
Lily Quotes in The Adoration of Jenna Fox
The The Adoration of Jenna Fox quotes below are all either spoken by Lily or refer to Lily. 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:
).
Pages 3–91
Quotes
“Sometimes we just don’t know when we’ve gone too far.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“You of all people should understand! If it weren’t for in vitro, I wouldn’t be here. You always called me your miracle. Why can’t I have one, too? Why do you get to decide when the miracles will end?”
“And your old life? Do you miss it?”
“Parts. Mostly I regret that I never saw my parents again.”
To heaven? Is that where she thinks she’s going? Is she really sure of going to a place that isn’t even on a map? And how can she be sure she’d like it once she got there? But that’s Lily. One big question mark.
Pages 92–190
Quotes
“I’m a doctor, Jenna. And a scientist.”
“Does that make you an authority on everything? What about a soul, Father? When you were so busy implanting all your neutral chips, did you think about that?”
Without knowing it, she called me a lab pet. Why am I so drawn to someone who could destroy me? Why do I need her to be my friend?
The dictionary says my identity should be all about being separate or distinct, and yet it feels like it is so wrapped up in others.
Pages 191–265
Quotes
“How can you know?” I ask.
“Some things aren’t meant to be known. Only believed.”
Get the entire The Adoration of Jenna Fox LitChart as a printable PDF.
Lily Quotes in The Adoration of Jenna Fox
The The Adoration of Jenna Fox quotes below are all either spoken by Lily or refer to Lily. 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:
).
Pages 3–91
Quotes
“Sometimes we just don’t know when we’ve gone too far.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“You of all people should understand! If it weren’t for in vitro, I wouldn’t be here. You always called me your miracle. Why can’t I have one, too? Why do you get to decide when the miracles will end?”
“And your old life? Do you miss it?”
“Parts. Mostly I regret that I never saw my parents again.”
To heaven? Is that where she thinks she’s going? Is she really sure of going to a place that isn’t even on a map? And how can she be sure she’d like it once she got there? But that’s Lily. One big question mark.
Pages 92–190
Quotes
“I’m a doctor, Jenna. And a scientist.”
“Does that make you an authority on everything? What about a soul, Father? When you were so busy implanting all your neutral chips, did you think about that?”
Without knowing it, she called me a lab pet. Why am I so drawn to someone who could destroy me? Why do I need her to be my friend?
The dictionary says my identity should be all about being separate or distinct, and yet it feels like it is so wrapped up in others.
Pages 191–265
Quotes
“How can you know?” I ask.
“Some things aren’t meant to be known. Only believed.”
