How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"We're something Dr. Schultz has made. Something new. Dr. Schultz says our intelligence has increased more than one thousand percent […] I think we're probably as intelligent as he is—maybe more […] I think we can learn anything we want." (18.56)
At first, this seems like a good thing. Who wouldn't want to be off-the charts smart? But since learning (in this book) is so often associated with pain and with being different, it seems like the rats had been signed up for 1000 times more pain when Dr. Schultz was finished with them.
Quote #5
"If the ants can do it, if the bees can do it, so can we."
"Do what?"
"Why, live without stealing, of course. That's the whole idea. That's the Plan." (20.78-80)
We just want to point out that ants at a picnic will make off with anything they can get their little mitts on, but that might be taking this statement too literally. The point here is that the rats are looking for role models to guide them in their quest to create a more perfect society. Ants and bees are very independent and are also highly organized, which the rats seem to have taken to heart.
Quote #6
"But people think we spread diseases, though never intentionally, and surely we never spread as many diseases as people themselves do." (21.10)
The rats keep coming face-to-face (snout?) with the terrible things that people think of them. Now that they are super-geniuses, though, they are able to think these stereotypes through and start to question them. So that's something.