How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
There was something tragic in the wall of invisible mesh he'd hung to choke the life from them while they traveled to the rhythm of an urging they could not deny. He imagined them slamming against his net in astonishment at this invisible thing that finished their lives in the last days of an urgent journey. (27.36)
These are Kabuo's thoughts while he was catching fish, offered via flashback prior to Carl's death and his own incarceration. As you can see, he feels a certain amount of sympathy for the creatures he's trapped—interesting foreshadowing, perhaps?
Quote #8
"In God's name, in the name of humanity, do your duty as jurors. Find Kabuo Miyamoto innocent as charged and let him go home to his family. Return this man to his wife and children. Set him free, as you must." (29.13)
This is part of Nels Gudmundsson's closing arguments in the trial. He is trying to convince the jury to overcome their prejudices and set Miyamoto free. Little does he know, those prejudices are about as easy for them to surmount as Mt. Everest.
Quote #9
Considered and considerate, formal at every turn, they were shut out and shut off from the deep interplay of their minds. They could not speak freely because they were cornered: everywhere they turned there was water and more water, a limitless expanse of it in which to drown. They held their breath and walked with care, and this made them who they were inside, constricted and small, good neighbors. (31.6)
The narrator suggests that living on the insular San Piedro island makes one a bit closed off and narrow. Hmm, we wouldn't have guessed.