How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I took new interest in the torpedo-fish with their crackling shocks; in the turtles that paced beside yardsticks; in the mice sliced end to end, that their gestation might be viewed.
They were my brethren. (1.12.2-3)
So… if these animals are Octavian's "brethren" and if they're going through all sorts of torture (even death) for the sake of the scholars' science experiments, then what does that say about Octavian's suffering, which is—at this point—mental instead of all about physical abuse and torture?
Quote #2
I revolved in my head passages of ancient texts that recalled how Britons had been slaves. Horace, writing of their subjection; or the Venerable Bede, describing how Saint Gregory the Great, pope and punster, had come across some British slave-boys in the market, and had found them so fair he sent a mission to convert their race to the Christian faith. (1.26.118)
Here's some context: Octavian and his mother have just been dragged out into the courtyard naked; they're about to be whipped for fighting with Lord Cheldthorpe. At this point, they're naked in the chilly night air, just hanging and waiting. The only way Octavian can deal with the suffering is to use the full power of his mind, to think about anything other than the fact that he and his mom are naked, in full view of each other, and hanging from posts.
This is a trick Octavian continuously turns to as he faces physical pain—detaching his mind from his body—though, as he later admits, it doesn't work all that well.
Quote #3
They came behind me. I would not grimace; I would not flinch; indeed, I would show nothing — considering, as the Stoic Phrygian slave, crippled by his master's blows, hath writ: "Beyond the last inner tunic of my frail body, no one has authority over me. If I love too much this pitiful flesh, I have sold myself as a slave, for I have shown through pain what can be used to master me."
So say I now, resolve standing tall in seclusion; but then, the rod cut; and, weakened by agony's chains, ambushed by astonishment, I could not forbear exclamations of torment.
I barked once, like a dog, then let forth a high whine.
I am ashamed of my weakness.
There is no need to rehearse the pain and the humiliation of spirit in such an act. (1.26.131-135)
The space between what Octavian wants to do in response to being whipped—to show nothing—and what actually happens—barking and whining—only adds to the sense of suffering in this experience. Not only is their intense physical pain, but mental suffering as Octavian is unable to react to this moment the way he wants to. Ugh.