my quotes for fri. 12/6 class

Whenever Elaine spoke, Jamel leaned forward and listened closely.  He was quiet, polite, deferential.  There was no hint of the fierce temper that the Bing guards knew well.  Here on Rikers Island, Elaine’s lengthy imprisonment gave her a certain authority in the eyes of her younger son.  She could tell that he was proud of her for surviving such a long prison sentence with her dignity intact.  (p. 183)

To (the recovering addicts at Project Renewal), she was a role-model—a real-life example of someone who had made it, who had lifted herself up from the bottom of society and found her place in the workforce.  For her part, Elaine hardly considered herself a success, at least not yet—not until she found an apartment where she could live comfortably with all her children.  (p. 219)

For her, rallies like this one were always an ego boost.  No longer was she just another criminal who had tried to make money illegally.  Here, she was considered a victim of overly punitive laws, a survivor, even a celebrity.  These rallies had enabled her to reinvent herself in a way that made her feel proud:  Now she considered herself a political activist.  (p. 263)