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“Follow your dreams, Bailey. Be they Harvard or something else entirely. No matter what that father of yours says, or how loudly he might say it. He forgets that he was someone’s dream once, himself.”
In the chapter “Hidden Things,” Bailey’s maternal grandmother advises him about the importance of dreaming and pursuing one’s passions. This conversation centers around months of conflict about whether Bailey will honor his father’s wish for him to take over the family farm or go to college at Harvard at his grandmother’s urging. During their conversation, it becomes clear that Bailey’s grandmother is less interested in him going to Harvard than she is in ensuring that he doesn’t get stuck living a life that does not align with his passions and dreams. The final sentence includes an anecdote that implies Bailey’s mother followed her dreams to marry Bailey’s father even though her family disapproved. The anecdote about Bailey’s parents serves to illustrate the way that people can forget what it’s like to be driven by a great passion. Bailey’s grandmother’s sentiment is an overarching one throughout the novel: that pursuing one’s dreams in the face of obstacles is essential to being true to oneself.
