How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph) and (Volume.Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"No," said Two again, "no, I'm afraid we mustn't express undue interest. We may not listen and we will not tell Sarima what we hear."
In the end, Elphaba left them, drooping. (4.2.4.68-69)
Elphaba does a total Charlie Brown walk of shame here after Sarima's sisters refuse to listen to her. In many ways, Elphaba spends her entire adult life failing to get others to listen to her.
Quote #8
"Everything is undocumented," said the Wizard, "but I believe Sarima and her sisters are all dead."
The Witch's breath caught in her chest. The last hopes of forgiveness gone! (5.4.41-42)
The Witch's reaction here is really telling in its selfishness. Though she's obviously distraught over Sarima's death, her first thought is how that death affects her, now that Sarima is no longer around to forgive her.
Quote #9
Her first true motherly feelings were of incompetence and of being blithely ignored as inconsequential. She could not understand how the human race had ever managed to develop past a single generation. (4.3.2.28)
Elphaba's thoughts on difficult teenagers are pretty hilarious. In a way, this is actually a victory for Elphaba, since part of being a mother is being ignored.