How we cite our quotes: (Section Break.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I shielded my eyes. There was nothing but sand and flatness and horizon. I used the branches to turn myself around, grazing my leg a little on the rock. But there were no buildings on the other side, no towns … not even a road. It looked the same on that side as it had looked near the house. Long, flat emptiness. I wanted to scream, probably the only reason I didn't was because I was worried you would hear me. If I had a gun, I think I would have shot myself. (17.4)
Wow. Now, that's despair. Gemma has lost total control—she's being held against her will in a place where her abductor is the only other person around, and she can't even kill herself the way she wants to. The emptiness of this view is enough to make her want to totally give up hope.
Quote #5
I glanced at the cloudless blue sky. There were no planes up there, no helicopters. No rescue missions. Lying in bed, I'd had the idea of writing "help" in the sand, but I realized then, it was a pretty stupid idea if no one ever flew over anyway. I turned to see the rest of the view: horizon, horizon, Separates, horizon, horizon … nowhere to run. (30.6)
Gemma is so isolated that she can't even live out the cliché of writing "help" in the sand. Seriously, there's nobody around. Except Ty.
Quote #6
Perhaps there was something more to those two words … some sort of a need to connect, wanting to use my voice rather than risk losing it. Because that's what it felt like, then, when that wind was up and blowing the sand around; it felt like it could blow my voice completely away from me, too. I was disappearing with those grains, scattering with the wind. (30.25)
The isolation of the desert is so permeating, so widespread, that Gemma actually feels like it's taking away her identity, eroding her away to the point of not even existing anymore. Kind of gives literal meaning to the idea of being stolen.