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A handsome, black-haired teenage boy, Ethan attends the village charter school at which Jenna Fox enrolls after moving to California. He also does community service at a nearby historical Catholic mission with Jenna as part of the school curriculum. A California native, Ethan spent a year in juvenile detention after beating and hospitalizing a drug dealer who addicted his 13-year-old brother to drugs; after his release from juvenile detention, he transferred to the tiny village charter school to avoid seeing too many people who knew him. Ethan loves literature and leads the school’s discussions of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. As Jenna’s cyborg brain has Walden memorized, she and Ethan discuss it frequently. After Ethan comforts Jenna when she admits she has amnesia, the two grow closer and eventually kiss. Yet when Jenna realizes how much of her body is prosthetic, she begins to avoid Ethan, thinking of herself as an unlovable “monster.” Ethan tracks down Jenna and demands the truth; after she tells him the truth, he insists that he isn’t a monster for beating up the drug dealer—and she isn’t a monster for surviving her accident. Ultimately, Ethan and Jenna have a 70-year romantic relationship. Long after Ethan’s death, Jenna uses Ethan’s genetic material to have a daughter by him, Kayla.
Ethan Quotes in The Adoration of Jenna Fox
The The Adoration of Jenna Fox quotes below are all either spoken by Ethan or refer to Ethan. 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:
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Pages 3–91 Quotes
What kind of person was Jenna Fox that she didn’t have any friends?
Was she someone I even want to remember?
Everyone should have at least one friend.
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“It was a private journey as much as a public one. He was searching for his personal essence as much as he was making a political statement.”
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“He’s missing something. I mean, really missing something[.]”
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Pages 92–190 Quotes
She has accepted the loss of her limbs but blames an out-of-control medical system for the outcome. She thinks if someone had regulated antibiotics long ago, when they first knew about the dangers of overuse, she and millions like her would have had a different fate, and now she seems determined that no new medical injustices will be unleashed on the world.
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“You have to draw the line somewhere, don’t you? Medical costs are a terrible economic drain on society, not to mention the ethics involved. And by restricting how much can be replaced or enhanced, the FSEB knows you are more human than lab creation. We don’t want a lot of half-human lab pets crawling all around the world, do we?”
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I’ve heard about sociopaths, people who connect with no one but themselves and their own self-interests. That would be Dane.
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Ethan Character Timeline in The Adoration of Jenna Fox
The timeline below shows where the character Ethan appears in The Adoration of Jenna Fox. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Pages 3–91
...the other students. Though it turns out Rae is currently in a conference, Jenna meets Ethan, the boy she saw at the mission; Allys, a girl who walks with braces; and...
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...about Jenna—until he sees her walk, at which point he makes fun of her gait. Ethan tells Dane to “eat it,” while Allys advises Jenna to ignore Dane. Then Dr. Rae...
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Ethan. Jenna has a conference with Dr. Rae, a youthful-looking 48-year-old. When Dr. Rae asks whether...
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When Jenna rejoins the discussion of Walden, she repeatedly “correct[s]” Ethan’s interpretation of the book, thinking that she’s helping him and hoping to befriend him. However,...
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...says that Dane doesn’t eat with the others, Jenna asks whether it’s because “we’re freaks.” Ethan snaps at her, “Speak for yourself!” Jenna, who was just quoting Dane, not insulting the...
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Ethan speculates that Dane goes to the village charter because he got expelled from all the...
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Pieces. Jenna holds fast to her memories of Allys, Gabriel, and Ethan at lunch, thinking that they “nearly are” her “life itself.”
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...of a mirror, trying to attain a normal gait. She yells down to Claire that Ethan’s driving her home, so she won’t need to be picked up. Claire calls teasingly to...
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When Jenna finds Ethan, she says he got her in trouble—she called her grandmother a “dickhead” not knowing what...
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As Jenna works with Ethan, she realizes that she’s enjoying the task. She repeats to herself that she’s “fitting in,”...
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Trigger. As Jenna gets into Ethan’s truck, she suddenly remembers that she didn’t have a driver’s license—but she was in a...
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Pages 92–190
A Hundred Points. Ethan picks up Allys from her community service at a nearby hospital on the Del Oro...
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Ethan asks about brains, and Allys says that Bio Gel is only legally allowed to replace...
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After school, Jenna is waiting outside for Ethan to give her a ride when Dane approaches. He asks her a series of small-talk...
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Outside, Jenna finds Ethan. He says he found some keys in his truck and asks whether they belong to...
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When Jenna says Ethan doesn’t seem like the type, Ethan replies, “You just never know.” Then he asks whether...
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...Lily can’t mind her own business. Lily replies, “It’s not right.” Jenna points out that Ethan liked their kiss, and Lily replies, “For now, maybe.” Jenna, devastated, just echoes the word...
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...internally strange, but she isn’t sure whether it’s the mustard or the memory of kissing Ethan. She puts her head down on her desk, hoping to doze off, but can’t sleep.
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An Invisible Boundary. At school, Ethan leads a discussion on Walden and keeps pausing for Jenna to jump in, but she...
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Outside, Ethan confronts Jenna about ignoring him after kissing him. Jenna wonders how she can explain that...
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...her hands on the altar, wondering whether “what I am is enough.” From behind her, Ethan calls that she shouldn’t be there—but then he joins her behind the altar railing. He...
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Jenna pushes Ethan away and tells him their kissing isn’t “right.” When Ethan brings up his past, Jenna...
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...but questions the word “taint,” arguing it’s more about protecting the original species’ survival. Then Ethan jumps into the conversation, pointing out that the FSEB has had its share of scandals....
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Pages 191–265
...entity. Yet she realizes that that was “the old Jenna’s question” too—and she wonders whether Ethan, Allys, and Dane have asked themselves similar things.
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At the students’ lunch break, Jenna goes to the market with Allys and Ethan. Allys confronts Jenna about being the Jenna Fox: Matthew Fox’s daughter, who was in an...
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Maybe. When Jenna starts crying, Ethan leads her to a field behind the market, where they kiss desperately. Jenna asks why...
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Ethan asks whether Jenna is afraid of Allys and suggests that they can persuade Allys not...
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...they’re going for a walk. She refuses. He asks whether she prefers “dangerous” guys like Ethan and suggests that he too could be dangerous. She tries to pull her hand away....
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...turns and nods to Jenna. She realizes that he’s the man who took her and Ethan’s photograph at the mission.
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...that’s “probably a good idea,” which clearly relieves her father. Jenna announces she’s going with Ethan to see their friend Allys, who’s ill; her father asks her to come back before...
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Waiting for Ethan outside, Jenna wonders whether she’ll still hear Kara and Locke’s voices after her parents move...
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They Know. When Jenna gets into Ethan’s truck, he points out that she’s shaking all over and tells her not to worry:...
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At Allys’s house, Jenna and Ethan are about to knock when an exhausted-looking woman opens the door. When Jenna and Ethan...
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Allys weakly invites Jenna and Ethan to approach her. When Jenna asks whether there’s anything she or Ethan can do, Allys...
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...mission church. Lily is going to talk about her seed project, and Jenna is finding Ethan. After Lily crosses herself with holy water, she crosses Jenna with holy water too. Jenna...
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...in the future, as all things do. Allys tells Jenna that Kayla is here—Jenna and Ethan’s biological daughter, whom Jenna had long after Ethan’s death. When Kayla is very old, Jenna...
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