How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Lina knew about the generator, of course. In some mysterious way, it turned the running of the river into power for the city. (1.67)
Everyone in Ember knows where power comes from… kindasorta. Lina's never seen the river (at least not in the beginning of the book), she just knows that it's water that continually flows and somehow is connected to electricity for the city. Don't get us wrong, a lot of us in the modern era are ignorant about exactly how our gadgets work—but we're not as in the dark as Ember's citizens are (pardon the pun).
Quote #2
The mayor's office was in the Gathering Hall […] And there were offices for the guards who enforced the laws of Ember, now and then putting pickpockets or people who got in fights into the Prison Room, a small one-story structure with a sloping roof that jutted out from one side of the building. (2.62)
It seems like Ember is a pretty peaceful place overall, but they still need guards in order to maintain the current power structure: mayor at the top, everyone else at the bottom, ideally not acting up or fighting. The more we see of the mayor's guards, the more we get the sense that they, like the mayor, are a bit too happy being in charge, and that they don't mind throwing their power around.
Quote #3
Wide as the widest street in Ember, churning and dipping and swirling, the river roared past, its turbulent surface like black, liquid glass scattered with flecks of light. Doon had never seen anything that moved so fast, and he had never heard such a thunderous, heart-stopping roar. (3.10)
Being face-to-face with such a powerful force of nature the first time around must be overwhelming, especially for an Ember kid who'd never been exposed to anything like it before. They don't have weather in Ember, clouds or rain or lightning, nothing that could prepare you for a sight like this.
Quote #4
"Take a lamp, for instance. When you plug it in, it comes alive, in a way. It lights up. That's because it's connected to a wire that's connected to the generator, which is making electricity, though don't ask me how. But a bean seed isn't connected to anything. Neither are people." (4.92)
Clary lays it out for us: people and plants must be powered by something, but it's invisible, unlike the cords that lamps and other electronics need to power them. What fuels us? What makes us alive, and what makes us dead? The people of Ember have a basic grasp of these issues (as in, they know how to keep people alive, and how to tell when they're dead), but as far as the deeper reasons go, they're pretty clueless. (Though to be fair, we are too, when you get into philosophical questions like why we're on this planet, and so on.)
Quote #5
"The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren't the master of yourself anymore. Anger is." (6.34)
Doon's father is spot on: anger is one of those emotions that will gain power over you if you let it. And seriously, who wants to be a slave to their anger? Just ask Darth Vader.
Quote #6
What difference would it make if she had the colored paper, or the shoes? She suddenly wanted those things so badly she felt weak. (11.77)
As Lina discovers, greed can gain power over you pretty easily. It's so simple to justify wanting something, and needing it, and having it. It's a total slippery slope. Luckily Lina is pretty powerful on her own. She has a sense of empathy for the other people in Ember, so she knows that it wouldn't be fair for her and a few others to hog all the good stuff. But she was still tempted, which shows how powerful selfishness can be.
Quote #7
"Everyone has some darkness inside. It's like a hungry creature. It wants and wants and wants with a terrible power." (13.8)
Clary's description of selfish and greedy feelings connects them to power, and rightly so. Once we give in to those feelings, we give them power over us. And once they get a hold on us, they're harder to say no to. That's what happened to the mayor, Looper, and Lizzie. Lina is lucky to escape with her sense of self intact.
Quote #8
If he still had light bulbs when everyone else in Ember had run out, would he enjoy sitting in his lit room while the rest of the city drowned in darkness? And when the power finally ran out for good, all his light bulbs would be useless. (14.1)
Electrical power is a limited good in Ember, since the generator is breaking down and no one knows how to fix it. The mayor either doesn't realize this or is too selfish to care. But his situation with electrical power parallels his situation with political power: both will only last so long.
Quote #9
Doon watched until the moth disappeared. He knew he had seen something marvelous. What was the power that turned the worm into a moth? It was greater than any power the Builders had had, he was sure of that. The power that ran the city of Ember was feeble by comparison—and was about to run out. (15.22)
Dare we compare the power of life to the power of electricity? How are they similar and different? To Doon, who (to be honest) doesn't really understand either, the power of life is much more amazing than electricity. Maybe it's the novelty. Maybe it's the fact that life is renewable and sustainable in ways that electricity isn't. It sounds like we're writing an ad for eco-friendly energy, doesn't it? Maybe Ember should've been powered with solar panels… but that would've assumed that there wasn't going to be a nuclear winter or something similarly terrible to black out the sun. Yeah, maybe it's better that they went with a river-powered generator (even though it's not as cool as metamorphosis in Doon's opinion).
Quote #10
Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet – Wanted for spreading vicious rumors – If you see them, report to mayor's chief guard. Believe nothing they say. Reward. (15.55)
This last attempt by the mayor to stifle Lina and Doon's voices is pretty effective. He's basically taking away their power of speech by telling everyone who sees the "Wanted" posters to not listen to them because they're liars. It's pretty devious if you ask us.