How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Take a lamp, for instance. When you plug it in, it comes alive, in a way…But a bean seed isn't connected to anything. Neither are people. We don't have plugs and wires that connect us to generators. What makes living things go is inside them somehow." (4.92)
Clary spends a lot of time with plants, being a greenhouse manager and all, so we can see where she'd have an inkling about how they work. Plants and people do have this in common: neither is battery-powered (yet). But what makes us tick? It's a mystery even to Clary, who's a keen observer of natural life. We're guessing the biology curriculum in Ember is rather sparse.
Quote #2
Fire was rare in Ember. When there was a fire, it was because there had been an accident—someone had left a dishtowel too close to an electric burner on a stove, or a cord had been frayed and a spark had flown out and ignited curtains… But it was, of course, possible to start a fire on purpose… The trick was to find a way to make the light last." (8.16-17)
This tells us that there are no candles in Ember, or fireplaces, or flamethrowers (what would they do if zombies attacked?). They don't even have matches or lighters here. Because really, what do you need fire for in a community that's been planned out to the last detail? Everyone has a stove to cook on, and the lights are on during daylight hours so you can see. Probably having a flashlight would help when things get dropped into dark corners, but otherwise, fire just doesn't have a place in Ember, which is more than a little ironic, given the name.
Quote #3
Heavens above – Indicates surprise. What "heavens" means is unclear. It might be another word for "floodlight." Hogwash – Means "nonsense," though no one knows what a "hog" is or why one would wash it. (8.22)
Yep, this is how out of touch Ember citizens are with the natural world. They live in a cavern, but they don't know it, so they have no idea of what the sky or heavens might be. There's nowhere to keep animals, so they don't know what hogs are. But since the original citizens of Ember came from our society, they maintained some of the sayings and expressions they were used to. Their descendants picked up these phrases because that's how language transmission works—and besides, you don't need to know the origin of every phrase you use, as long as you use it correctly.
Quote #4
After discovering the room full of boats, Lina had come home to Mrs. Murdo's with the sound of the river still in her ears. It was like a huge, powerful voice, roaring at the top of its lungs. Deep inside herself, Lina felt an answering call, as if she, too, contained a drop of the same power. (15.34)
Most citizens of Ember don't see the river since it's below the city; it's just Pipeworks folks and electricians who encounter it, since it powers the generator that lights all of Ember. So Lina is understandably blown away by the presence of the river. It speaks to something inside of her, some part of her that understands that humans are a part of nature, and are not meant to live apart from it.
Quote #5
"There is no place but Ember. Ember is the only light in the dark world." She knew now that this wasn't true. There was someplace else—the place where the boats would take them. (15.69)
Because of what she and Doon have discovered, Lina now knows that Ember is not the only point on the map. There's more to the world than just their little city. And the river is the key to getting there, so they'd better get comfortable with whitewater rafting right quick.
Quote #6
Then suddenly the current slowed even more, and the tunnel opened out […] Far overhead arched a vaulted ceiling. Columns of rock hung down from it, and columns of rock rose from the water, too, making long shadows that turned and mingled as the boat floated among them. They glimmered in the candlelight, pink and pale green and silver. (18.14)
All this time, Ember has been surrounded by natural beauty, such as caverns full of stalagmites and stalactites. But who knew? They didn't have candles or flashlights or tiki torches, so how were they supposed to find out until it was time to follow the instructions from the Builders on how to leave Ember?
Quote #7
"Doon!" cried Lina. "More lights!" She pointed at the sky. He looked up and saw them—hundreds and hundreds of tiny flecks of light, strewn like spilled salt across the blackness. "Oh!" he whispered. There was nothing else to say. The beauty of these lights made his breath stop in his throat. (19.17-18)
Do you remember the first time you ever saw the stars? Probably not, since you were most likely a wee child and became accustomed to them over time. But when Doon and Lina emerge from Ember and behold the night sky with the moon and stars… holy moly, it's powerful and beautiful.
Quote #8
I have a baby on my lap—a girl… Stanley and I have named these children Star and Forest. (20.11-12)
Our mysterious journal writer is going to raise the first generation of Ember's native population from infancy. She knows the rules: they can't bring anything to Ember that is a reminder or memento of the world above. Yet she and her partner decide to name the kids after natural things. What's that about? Are they defying authority? Are they trying to preserve some of the beautiful things of the earth? We never get inside her head to find out why.
Quote #9
But it was hard to picture a city like Ember here in this bright, beautiful place. How could anyone have allowed such a place to be harmed? (20.32)
Lina wonders about the world that the journal writer had left behind, which was supposedly nearing its end and beset by troubles. To Lina, the natural world is so beautiful, she can't understand how its citizens could've let harm come to it. Still, this example shows us how the natural world suffers when the human world does, unfortunately.
Quote #10
The creature was utterly strange, not like anything they had ever known, and yet when it looked at them, some kind of recognition passed between them. "I know now," said Doon. "This is the world we belong in." (20.50)
Yo, kiddos, it's just a fox. Or maybe like a mutant fox. And yet to someone who's never seen a fox before, who's never seen any kind of living creature other than humans and insects, this kind of wildlife encounter is amazing. Doon's smart enough to recognize the similarities of the fox (a mammal) to himself (also a mammal), and from this he deduces that humans are a part of this new natural world as much as foxes are. Which means they can chow down on the same grub—yum.