How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"They want to know about your personality, yes, but the more generalized your answers the better chance you have of being considered for a variety of positions." (3.3)
Basically, be yourself… as long as yourself is the most boring person imaginable. Is this what you think life in a government-controlled society would be like? Is it true that the more rules there are, the more people start acting and sounding same?
Quote #2
Beyond that is the open ocean—and beyond that, all the crumbling countries and cities ruined by the disease. (3.8)
We have no idea if this is the truth—if there are countries around the world destroyed by the deliria—or if it's just government propaganda. Lena believes anything she's told, but as far we know, the U.S. might be the only country that has banned love.
Quote #3
It's extremely unusual for people to dream once they've been cured. (5.27)
Is this true, or do people just not talk about their dreams once they've been cured? How effective is this love cure, really? And do you think people need the idea of love in order to dream? What about nightmares? Where do they come from?
Quote #4
"Don't be an idiot. If it was on the news, it definitely isn't true." (5.45)
Not only is this an apt assessment of the media in Lena's time, it's also a funny line because it could kind of be true in our own society. What do you think? Which news sources do you trust, and which do you think are full of it?
Quote #5
I've learned to get really good at this—say one thing when I'm thinking something else, act like I'm listening when I'm not. (5.52)
In other words, Lena is great at pretending to be someone she's not… except in situations where it counts, like at the evaluation. In that instance, she's shockingly honest. Why do you think that is?
Quote #6
"We weren't breaking in. [...] We got lost." (5.92)
Unlike Lena, who thinks she's the best liar of all time (yet freezes when it counts), Hana is pretty good at talking herself out of dicey situations. Like this one with Alex the security guard. Sure, you were just lost, Hana. That's all.
Quote #7
"We've never met. I'm sure I would remember." (5.103)
Alex is pretty good at lying too. He even turns this lie into a flirtatious comment. Very suave there, bro.
Quote #8
I never knew I could lie to my aunt—I never knew I could lie, period. (6.77)
All that subtle deceit Lena thinks she's so good at has evolved into out-and-out lying. What do you think prompted the change? Is it the deliria?
Quote #9
"Smoke and mirrors, all of it," Alex says, waving his hand vaguely. I assume he means Portland, the laws, maybe all of the USA. (16.34)
The fact that 99.9% of Portland's citizens obey the rules without question is kind of magical. Alex's comparison of this rule-abiding to smoke and mirrors reinforces that feeling of magic. The thing is, once citizens know how the trick of fear-mongering is done, the illusion isn't as strong. Once Lena starts to question the lies her government has told her about the Wilds, about love, and more, they quickly fall apart.
Quote #10
In that second it really hits me how deep and complex the lies are, how they run through Portland like sewers, backing up into everything, filling the city with stench: the whole city built and constructed within a perimeter of lies. (16.71)
This analogy is similar to the smoke and mirrors one, except it makes us picture Portland as a rickety tower of lies. When Lena pulls the lowest block out of that tower, the whole thing collapses.