How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"What will happen when he announces that there's a group of civilized rats roaming loose—rats that can read, and think, and figure things out?" (18.59)
We're pretty sure that people would grab their pitchforks and form a mob led by exterminators. This puts the rats' identity crisis in a different light: it's not just that they want to figure out where they belong. It's that not figuring this out could wind them up in a whole heap of trouble.
Quote #5
"Occasionally we came upon other rats, and a few times we talked with them, but not for long. Because after just a few words, they would begin to look at us strangely and edge away. Somehow they could tell that we were different." (19.6)
This might be the saddest part of the whole book. Not only are the rats kidnapped and changed against their will, but they are also changed so much that their own kind rejects them. They have become outcasts.