Violence Quotes in Mortal Engines

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

[Hester] was riding a wave of memory and it was carrying her backward to the night, that room, and the blood that had spattered her mother's star charts like the map of a new constellation. (6.18)

Yikes. That's a potent memory. It's also strangely beautiful. As movies like Sin City and 300 have shown us, violence can be strangely beautiful, in a way.

Quote #5

"If they are alive, kill them. Bring their bodies to me." (7.22)

Magnus Crome is pretty cold. It's important to realize that he's talking about Tom and Hester here, who are barely older than fifteen. Why doesn't he go with a non-violent alternative to solve his problem?

Quote #6

[Hester] dragged a metal lever out of the winch and swung it at Wreyland. [...] Hester lurched forward and raised the bar again, but before she could bring it down on the old man's skull Tom grabbed her arm. "Stop! You'll kill him!" "So?" She swung toward him, snaggleteeth bared, looking like a demented monkey. (9.22)

This is a strong image, one that again equates violence with primal, animalistic behavior. Hester doesn't have a problem with violence, because her parents were killed right in front of her. To her, it seems to be the only way to solve a problem.