Orphan Train

by

Christina Baker Kline

Ralph is Molly’s current foster father. He works as a plumber in Spruce Harbor. Inspired by his own experience as a troubled teen, he convinced his wife, Dina, to become foster parents. Ralph is even-tempered and often tries to play the role of mediator during Molly and Dina’s frequent fights. Though he is generally kind to Molly, he fails to protect her from Dina’s fits of anger.

Ralph Thibodeaus Quotes in Orphan Train

The Orphan Train quotes below are all either spoken by Ralph Thibodeaus or refer to Ralph Thibodeaus. 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:
Belonging and Connection Theme Icon
).
Chapter 19 Quotes

He’s always making excuses – “She didn’t mean nothing by it,” “She’s yanking your chain” – when Dina does things like intone “the Tribe has spoken” when Molly expresses an opinion. “You need to stop taking yourself so seriously, little girl,” Dina said when Molly asked her to knock it off. “If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re going to have a very hard life.”

Related Characters: Molly Ayer, Ralph Thibodeaus, Dina Thibodeaus
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Orphan Train LitChart as a printable PDF.
Orphan Train PDF

Ralph Thibodeaus Quotes in Orphan Train

The Orphan Train quotes below are all either spoken by Ralph Thibodeaus or refer to Ralph Thibodeaus. 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:
Belonging and Connection Theme Icon
).
Chapter 19 Quotes

He’s always making excuses – “She didn’t mean nothing by it,” “She’s yanking your chain” – when Dina does things like intone “the Tribe has spoken” when Molly expresses an opinion. “You need to stop taking yourself so seriously, little girl,” Dina said when Molly asked her to knock it off. “If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re going to have a very hard life.”

Related Characters: Molly Ayer, Ralph Thibodeaus, Dina Thibodeaus
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis: