How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The Sisters tell us that ours is the only village left in the world. (1.8)
Talk about depressing… scary… lonely… insert your own adjective here.
Quote #2
I can see the terror closing in on the irises of his eyes. His fingers dig into my wrist, almost clawing at me but I keep pulling away, pushing at his hands and body until I am free. (1.32)
Is Harry gripping Mary here because he's scared, trying to trap her, or merely trying to protect her? How would the story have changed if Mary had stayed with Harry by the river rather than racing alone to the fence and her mother?
Quote #3
A small part of me craves to rebel, to break free of this room. To run and grieve with my brother. But I am too exhausted, my body unwilling to move. Here I'm warm and fed and alone and don't have to answer anyone's accusing questions or stares. I don't have to explain why my mother was alone, why I was not with her. (3.16)
For Mary, freedom means dealing with her own guilt, and confinement means pushing it back and letting it go. Sometimes confinement ain't such a curse, after all.
Quote #4
My world feels so small now, the four walls of my room the only place I am allowed unsupervised. I miss standing on the hill, wind slipping past me, and staring at the horizon wondering what, if anything, is past the Forest. Some nights, as sleep pushes in around me, my mind wanders along the fence line, to the gate guarding the forbidden path. But even in my dreams I do not step through it. (4.35)
Mary craves absolute freedom. So much so, in fact, that she'll wish, hope, and dream about it. But when it comes right down to it, she's just as scared as anyone else to try it out.
Quote #5
Nothing can contain us any longer. Not when word of the Outsider gets out. And I will be the first through the gate. I will be the one to lead us to the ocean. To the place untouched by the Unconsecrated. (7.57)
Seeing Gabrielle lights a fire in Mary's britches. If someone else made it to their town, then that means she can make it out of there herself. This little sliver of knowledge punctures Mary's fear of breaking down the traditions she's followed all her life.
Quote #6
With each twist, each tether, each word, I feel myself falling farther from Travis and I must bite my lip to keep from weeping. (13.10)
The Binding Ropes do more than confine Mary to a life with Harry—they yank her from a life with Travis. Should she have broken them? Is Travis at fault because he didn't come for her, or is she the guilty one for refusing to stop the ceremony herself?
Quote #7
I realize that I've been so angry at Harry for my own fate, as if he has been my enemy and not the friend I have always known. I can see now that his life is as constricted as mine. (13.34)
Check it out—Mary actually shows compassion for someone other than herself for once. Sure, she's miserable with Harry, but think about his situation: He's been in love with the Marymeister his entire life, and when the time finally comes to tie the knot (figuratively and literally), she up and falls in love with his little brother. How's that for a major bummer?
Quote #8
I realize I am standing on the path that she traveled to our village and it's now she who is trapped on the other side of the gate. (15.32)
Sigh—the tragic irony of poor Gabrielle's life. She flees her zombie-infested village and finds a zombie-free place, only to be fed back to the zombies she worked so hard to escape. It's only fitting that she is the one who takes out Sister Tabitha. She's a survivor, after all.
Quote #9
I tug at the knots of the Binding rope on my wrist, twisting them, fraying the ends, trying to loosen them. But they hold tight. (16.51)
The Binding Ropes confine Mary even when they're cut and shredded. Do you think this is because she didn't have the strength to say no to Harry, or because Travis didn't have the strength to say yes to her? In either case, Mary can't change her choices or what might have been, and she'll be trapped with that knowledge forever.
Quote #10
Suddenly, the roof of the attic is too close. This house is not enough for me anymore, I know that this solitude will never settle through my bones and I realize that I still long for the ocean and it's not enough to just sit in this life and be safe. (24.18)
Mary's definition of freedom equals her vision of the ocean. Without those beachy waves, she'll always feel confined, which makes Mary a prisoner of her own dreams.