How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Douglas felt but did not feel the deep loam, listening, watchful. We're surrounded! He thought. It'll happen! What? he stopped. Come out, wherever you are, whatever you are! he cried silently. (2.19)
Doug feels his epiphany sneaking up on him like a creature. Even though realizing you're alive is technically a good thing, Doug experiences it as a monster in the woods. It's like he knows that the beauty of life goes hand-in-hand with the ugliness of death, and he recognizes the peril in the awareness he's about to achieve.
Quote #2
The shocks of life, he thought, biking along, what were they? Getting born, growing up, growing old, dying. Not much to do about the first. But—the other three? (9.2)
These are Leo Auffmann's thoughts as he brainstorms his Happiness Machine. Think about all the medical technology that prevents death today—life support machines are just the tip of the iceberg. And people have been known to sleep in hyperbaric chambers (ahem, Michael Jackson) to prevent growing old. Now remember that the Happiness Machine goes up in flames. It's totally a metaphor for how life goes up in flames when you try to intervene in its natural trajectory.
Quote #3
"The Lonely One's around again. Killing people. No one's safe anymore. You never know when the Lonely One'll turn up or where." (10.41)
Pretty creepy words for Tom's mom to say to her ten-year-old while they search for his missing older brother, especially when you consider that he's the one who found his younger sister's body. (See the next quote for more on this.)