Quote 1
"In October," Petrus intervenes. "The baby is coming in October. We hope he will be a boy."
"Oh. What have you got against girls?"
"We are praying for a boy," says Petrus. "Always it is best if the first one is a boy. Then he can show his sisters—show them how to behave." (15.83-85)
Through the course of the novel, David learns a lot about negative attitudes toward women. Back in the city, though, misogyny was more unspoken. Out here in the country, though, you can say things like this out loud. Here, Petrus reveals his attitude towards women: they should be submissive to men, and men are responsible for showing them what's what.
Quote 2
"No, a boy is better. Except your daughter. Your daughter is different. Your daughter is as good as a boy. Almost!" He laughs at his sally. "Hey, Lucy!"
Lucy smiles, but he knows she is embarrassed. (15.88-89)
Here, Petrus makes an association between Lucy's sexual orientation and her gender. Because she's a lesbian, he argues, she's pretty much as good as a boy. But not quite. Because in case it wasn't clear already, in Petrus's eyes women are inferior to men. And the jerk award goes to…
Quote 3
"No, no, he is not eighteen."
"How do you know? He looks eighteen to me, he looks more than eighteen."
"I know, I know! He is just a youth, he cannot go to jail, that is the law, you cannot put a youth in jail, you must let him go!"
For Petrus that seems to clinch the argument. (16.17-20)
For Petrus, judgment is out of the question, because the law says that Pollux is too young to be tried. For David, this means that there is no justice, because a terrible crime will go unpunished and unrecognized.