Where am I going? I don’t quite know. Down to the stream where the king-cups grow – Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow – Anywhere, anywhere. I don’t know.
-- A.A. Milne as recited by Santat (Part 1 paragraph N/A)

Importance: This is the poem that Santat must recite in front of his school, prompting laughter and ridicule. This scene occurs at the beginning of the memoir, and so its significance to Santat’s journey is unknown at that point. The lines, however, are about not knowing where the narrator is going. In some ways Santat is different from the narrator because he does know where he is going on his trip to Europe. In other ways, however, he does not know. He does not know the psychological journey he will go on nor does he know how he will grow and change.

He’s thirteen. He’s a teenager. Teenagers don’t want to do anything.
-- Mrs. Santat (Part 1 paragraph N/A)

Importance: These words represent...