How we cite our quotes: (Section Break.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I've never been to Vietnam," you said eventually.
"Or me. I'd rather go to America."
"Really? All those cities, those people?" (1.56-58)
Hey, Ty—watch it. Americans aren't so bad. Seriously, though, this is our first clue that Ty and Gemma have differing perspectives in terms of what location they would most like to live in.
Quote #2
I wrapped my arms around me as tightly as I could, and stared up at the stars. Had I not been so cold and wanting to escape so badly, I could have stared at them forever: They were amazingly beautiful, so bright and dense. My eyes could get lost in them. Back home I was lucky if I even saw the stars at night, what with all the pollution and city lights, but in the desert, I couldn't miss them. They swallowed me up. (19.5)
Being in the middle of nowhere does have its perks, we suppose—like getting a full-on view of the stars. It's an astonishing contrast from Gemma's home in the city, and she's never experienced anything like it.
Quote #3
"At least there are no cities," you said finally. "Out here … no concrete."
"I like cities."
Your fingers tightened around the railings. "No one's real in a city," you snapped. "Nothing's real." (30.29-31)
Ty's contempt for cities and the fake people that inhabit them might be correct in some cases. Still, a lot of these feelings probably come from his abrupt exposure to the city as a child, being taken from the wilderness farm where he felt comfortable and forced to be somewhere different.
Quote #4
"Once Dad found the city, and all the rest of it, that was it.… The farm didn't recover. He forgot about the land, forgot about me, too […] We stayed like that awhile. Then one day Dad just didn't come back from the city." (31.42)
Ty's other problem with cities comes from his dad abandoning him and choosing to go to one and be irresponsible rather than be a dad. Again, not all city people are hooked on booze and gambling, though it's definitely more prevalent than it would be in, say, Ty's desert compound. Nonetheless, Ty's traumatic childhood causes him to make serious judgments about cities as locations.
Quote #5
"They found out my name," you snapped. "After awhile, they figured Mum had gone overseas and Dad had died in a pub. By then the farm had been carved up for his debts." You were still glaring at me, gripping the couch until it started to creak. "Nobody knew who I was," you added. "Not really. When I went to the city, my whole life started again, from the dirt up." (31.58)
Just in case you can't tell, when Ty says that about his life starting over again, he doesn't mean it in a good way. Getting taken to the children's home wrecked his entire world, and he lost everything he'd known due to his dad's reckless behavior.
Quote #6
You let my arm fall to one side. "Were you really happy in the city?" […] You backed off a step. "I'm only asking," you said. "Did you really have a perfect life? Do you really miss it … your parents, your friends, any of it?" (37.66-68)
Ty doesn't seem to consider the fact that Gemma would be happy in a city because it's all she's ever known. In his mind, she's been living someplace evil where her whole life is being carved out for her.
Quote #7
It was nothing like being in England. When Dad drove us west for two hours last year we'd ended up in Wales, another country. But there, in the desert, two hours was like driving further into fire. The more we drove, the hotter and redder it became and the more I feared I'd never be able to get out. (40.3)
The United Kingdom is a collection of interconnected countries—you can drive from one to another just like you can drive from one state to another here in America—but the desert is a collection of interconnected sand and rocks, with no societal divisions whatsoever. Gemma expects to eventually come to something because that's the way travel is back home, but it's not going to happen here.
Quote #8
"Listen," you said.
"To what? There's nothing."
"There is. Maybe not shopping centers and cars, but other things … buzzing insects, racing ants, a slight wind making the tree creak, there's a honeyeater up there, scuttling around, and the camels are coming." (41.16-18)
One of the things that disturbs Gemma so much in her initial days in captivity is the silence. Ty, however, shows her that it's not dead quiet—there's just a different kind of noise. As someone who's spent most of his life there, he notices these things. Imagine how shocking the noise of the city must have been to him when he was taken there as a child.
Quote #9
"That's the city—everyone loves to pretend. Especially the rich. Anyway, it's easy to be what people want: give them something to stare at, nod and smile, tell them they're gorgeous." You flashed your best charming grin before you added, "The three steps to money." (50.43)
We've already talked a lot about how Ty's problems with the city largely come from his childhood—but, in a way, this statement is right on. Don't we all pretend? Don't we all think that getting what we want is the secret to happiness? Gemma's parents definitely seem to. We don't get much of a look into their lives in this book, but if we did, we have the feeling we'd find they're actually pretty unhappy people.
Quote #10
"Out here things pretend to be dead, Gem. It's their survival tactic. Underneath, they're bursting with life. Nearly all of a desert plant's growth is below the soil […] I guess it's a bit like us in the city, or the city itself … dead to look at, but underneath, it's tingling." (53.8)
After spending a lot of the story haranguing against the city's fakery and noise, Ty makes a surprising statement when he actually says that they are alike, with life under the surface trying to get out. On the other hand, though, he also seems to be making a statement about himself and his general situation with Gemma. What looks like a kidnapping (and still is, but you know what we mean) is actually a reaction to a traumatic childhood and a desire to show a city girl that there is more to life than what she's experienced.