Old Age Quotes in Hyperion

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

Rachel's hair, always her one vanity, grew shorter and thinner. Her face lost its familiar structure. [...] Her coordination failed by degrees. (4.688)

Rachel's regression into babyhood eerily mirrors the body's deterioration as it gets older. There's a reason they call old age a "second childhood."

Quote #8

I kissed her graying hair and the lines etched in the once smooth cheeks. I kissed her tears. (6.166)

Siri could be crying because she's much older than Merin now, or because he still shows love for her regardless of her age. Or both. (Maybe he should have just made her into a vampire.)

Quote #9

I was all too aware of her short hair, the loosening neck muscles, and the cords appearing on the backs of those once beloved hands. (6.195)

Seeing Siri grow old is all the more startling for Merin because he's hardly aged at all. Imagine if you woke up one day and your wife—or husband, brother, or sister—was suddenly fifty years older than you.