The Girl Who Drank the Moon

by

Kelly Barnhill

The Parent Character Analysis

The person who tells their child the stories of the Witch and of the Protectorate throughout the novel. While the parent is unnamed and ungendered, it’s possible that this person is Adara’s mother or Ethyne’s mother, since both women lost a baby boy to the sacrifice. In the parent’s final story, which ends the novel, they reflect on the positive changes that came about when Luna unseated Sister Ignatia. The parent praises the Bog and the Witch—presumably Luna—and says that the children in the Protectorate are now happy and healthy.

The Parent Quotes in The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The The Girl Who Drank the Moon quotes below are all either spoken by The Parent or refer to The Parent. 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 Love Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Sometimes. I have this dream. About your brother. He would be eighteen now. No. Nineteen. I have this dream that he has dark hair and luminous skin and stars in his eyes. I dream that when he smiles, it shines for miles around. Last night I dreamed that he waited next to a tree for a girl to walk by. And he called her name, and held her hand, and his heart pounded when he kissed her.

What? No. I’m not crying. Why would I cry? Silly thing.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker)
Page Number: Chapter 4. In Which It Was Just a Dream29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

But he didn’t kill the Witch. The Witch killed him instead.

This is why it doesn’t pay to be brave. Bravery makes nothing, protects nothing, results in nothing. It only makes you dead. And this is why we don’t stand up to the Witch. Because even a powerful old wizard was no match for her.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker), Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater, Zosimos, Fyrian’s Mother
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 8. In Which a Story Contains a Hint of Truth59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

They say she even stole it from the moon. And then she cast a spell over all of us—a great cloud of sorrow, covering the world.

Well, of course it covers the world. That’s why the world is drab and gray. That’s why hope is only for the smallest of children. Best you learn that now.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker), Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 22. In Which There Is Another Story182
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

But the volcano never really went out. The wizard stopped it up, but it went underground. And it leaks its fury into the water pools and the mud vats and the noxious vents. It poisons the Bog. It contaminates the water. It is the reason why our children go hungry and our grandmothers wither and our crops are so often doomed to fail. It is the reason we cannot ever leave this place and there is no use trying.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker), Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater, Zosimos, Fyrian’s Mother
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 29. In Which There Is a Story with a Volcano in It242
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Parent Quotes in The Girl Who Drank the Moon

The The Girl Who Drank the Moon quotes below are all either spoken by The Parent or refer to The Parent. 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 Love Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

Sometimes. I have this dream. About your brother. He would be eighteen now. No. Nineteen. I have this dream that he has dark hair and luminous skin and stars in his eyes. I dream that when he smiles, it shines for miles around. Last night I dreamed that he waited next to a tree for a girl to walk by. And he called her name, and held her hand, and his heart pounded when he kissed her.

What? No. I’m not crying. Why would I cry? Silly thing.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker)
Page Number: Chapter 4. In Which It Was Just a Dream29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

But he didn’t kill the Witch. The Witch killed him instead.

This is why it doesn’t pay to be brave. Bravery makes nothing, protects nothing, results in nothing. It only makes you dead. And this is why we don’t stand up to the Witch. Because even a powerful old wizard was no match for her.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker), Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater, Zosimos, Fyrian’s Mother
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 8. In Which a Story Contains a Hint of Truth59
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

They say she even stole it from the moon. And then she cast a spell over all of us—a great cloud of sorrow, covering the world.

Well, of course it covers the world. That’s why the world is drab and gray. That’s why hope is only for the smallest of children. Best you learn that now.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker), Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 22. In Which There Is Another Story182
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 29 Quotes

But the volcano never really went out. The wizard stopped it up, but it went underground. And it leaks its fury into the water pools and the mud vats and the noxious vents. It poisons the Bog. It contaminates the water. It is the reason why our children go hungry and our grandmothers wither and our crops are so often doomed to fail. It is the reason we cannot ever leave this place and there is no use trying.

Related Characters: The Parent (speaker), Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater, Zosimos, Fyrian’s Mother
Related Symbols: The Witch
Page Number: Chapter 29. In Which There Is a Story with a Volcano in It242
Explanation and Analysis: