How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"So the first mayor will pass the box to the next mayor, and that one to the next, and so on down through the years, all of them keeping it a secret, all the time?" "What else can we do?" asked the chief builder. "Nothing about this endeavor is certain. There may be no one left in the city by then or no safe place for them to come back to." (The Instructions.11-12)
The people who planned Ember had good intentions—to save a small set of humanity in case the rest of the population is killed in an inevitable disaster. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans? Yeah, nothing is certain in life, and even though it seems like the Builders have done a pretty good job accounting for various possibilities, they couldn't take every variable into account. Especially not human nature, since we humans are notoriously fickle. With that in mind, leaving the box containing instructions to one person at a time maybe wasn't the best plan in the first place Would planting a back-up box somewhere have been that hard?
Quote #2
Both the girl and the boy were making urgent wishes. Doon's wish was very specific. He repeated it over and over again, his lips moving slightly, as if he could make it come true by saying it a thousand times. Lina was making her wish in pictures rather than in words. (1.7)
On Assignment Day, we imagine that most kids are wishing or hoping for a particular job (or against a particular job—we think being a toilet scrubber in Ember doesn't sound fun). It's interesting that Lina and Doon make their wishes in different ways, one visual and the other verbal. Just goes to show that while we all have hopes and dreams, we express them in different ways.
Quote #3
Lina had done the drawings out of her imagination. They showed a city that looked somewhat like Ember, except that its buildings were lighter and taller and had more windows. (2.30)
The city of Lina's dreams is filled with light and beauty. In other words, it's totally different from Ember. She hopes that someday she'll find it, even though she knows from school that Ember is the only light in a dark world. It's not like there's a rule saying dreams have to be consistent with the real world, though. Or that what you learn in school is always true.
Quote #4
For the moment, Lina felt almost perfectly happy. There was no need to think about the fate of the city right now. Tomorrow, she'd be a messenger! She wiped the orange goop off Poppy's chin. "Don't worry," she said. "Everything will be all right." (2.35)
Being a messenger is Lina's biggest hope for her life at the beginning of the book. Yeah, there is some weird stuff going on in Ember, lights going out and all that, but Lina knows she'll be happy if she gets to run around and help people connect with each other. Is it selfish to want and hope for things for yourself?
Quote #5
He'd been stupid to think he could understand the generator just by looking at it, when other people had been working on it their entire lives. The thing was, he had to admit, he'd always thought he was smarter than other people. (3.39)
One of Doon's greatest hopes is to learn how electricity works and to save Ember from the blackouts (earning a lot of pats on the back in the process, natch). And when you're a smart kid like Doon is, there's no reason to think your hope is unrealistic. Until, of course, you find out that electricity is way more complicated than it looks, and that without an experienced teacher, you're unlikely to puzzle it through. Poor Doon, having this hopes crushed like that.
Quote #6
"What were you looking for?" Lina asked […] Sadge stared at her. He seemed to puzzle over her question. Finally he said, "I was looking for something that could help us… Like a stairway that leads somewhere, maybe." (4.69-72)
Sadge's heart is in the right place: he was hoping to find something that could help the people of Ember, out in the Unknown Regions. It's a nice thought, but without a portable light, Sadge's plan doesn't carry him very far out there in the complete darkness. Other citizens of Ember have hoped and tried the same thing, but all have failed. It seems like hope needs to be paired with a solid plan in order to have a chance at success.
Quote #7
"And the Builders will come again and show us the way."
[…]
"How do you know?"
Captain Fleery straightened up and clapped a hand over her heart. "I know it here," she said. "And I have seen it in a dream. So have all of us, all the Believers." (7.32-36)
Spoiler alert: the Builders don't come back to save the people of Ember. So while Captain Fleery is optimistic and hopeful (which is generally a good thing), the thing she sees in her dreams is an illusion—not the truth. Which raises a good question: how are we supposed to know the difference between true dreams and false dreams? And when does it matter whether your dreams and hopes are one vs. the other?
Quote #8
Lina saw that Clary was no better at deciphering the puzzle than she was. She sighed and sat down on the end of her bed. "It's hopeless," she said. Clary straightened up quickly. "Don't say that. This torn-up piece of paper is the most hopeful thing I've ever seen." (13.27-28)
Lina has been pretty hopeful throughout the book, so if even she's giving up on something and declaring it hopeless, that's a bad sign. Luckily Clary is there to reinforce Lina's belief that the mysterious message is in fact important.
Quote #9
"Really," he said, "this is a perfect idea. We can get away from the guards and leave our message behind us. And we can be the first ones to arrive in the new city! We should be the first, because we discovered the way." (15.78)
Doon's plan to escape Ember and leave behind instructions for the rest of the citizens isn't necessarily a bad one… except that it, like the plan of the Builders, leaves a lot to chance. What if the kids get captured before they can deliver their message, or what if the message gets lost? Doon's a smart kid, but it seems like he'd benefit from an understanding of just how many variables there are in human behavior.
Quote #10
They have spent years and years making this plan. It's supposed to ensure that, no matter what happens, people won't disappear from the earth […]
And of course this plan is proof that they think the world is doomed. All the best scientists and engineers have been pulled in to work on it. (20.5-6)
Our mysterious journal writer has some idea of just how much planning has gone into the creation of Ember. Constructing a place for a couple hundred people to occupy for a couple hundred years is a massive effort, but a worthwhile one, right? What's a little planning if it means the continuation of the human race?