How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
He rummaged in a pile of clothing and tossed some garments to Theo. "Get behind the coach. Put these on. If there's any question, say you're a Trebizonian."
"I can't speak Trebizonian."
"Neither can they. Very well, you'll be a mute Trebizonian. Get on with it. Not a word out of you. Do as I say."
Theo ducked around the coach and pulled on the costume: a long, striped robe which, by its smell, had not been laundered for years, and a tall, cylindrical headpiece with a tassel. (4.26-29)
Here Theo plays the "wild barbarian" character to scare off some soldiers. There might not be Trebizonians in our world, but we still can't help but wonder what they would think about this.
Quote #2
"My servant?" The count beckoned to Theo. "This fellow? Trebizonian, as you see. Hardly an apprentice of any sort, eh? Can't speak. Only grunts. I spared his life on my last campaign. He's been devoted to me ever since."
The officer stared at Theo. Las Bombas went on.
"A faithful creature—as far as you can trust any of these savages. Strong as a bull, though you wouldn't think it, looking at him. Poor devil, he's quite mad. Calm and peaceful in the ordinary way of things. What sets him wild is officers with horses. Even I can't control him then."
Taking the count's hint, Theo growled and bared his teeth in what he hoped would pass for a ferocious grimace. Terrified, at the same time he felt himself an utter fool.
"You should have seen what he did to my last aide." Las Bombas gravely shook his head. "Those Trebizonians go straight for the throat, you know." (4.37-41)
Again Las Bombas says that the Trebizonians are absolute barbarians. He does so for a worthwhile purpose—to get the soldiers of his back—but, in doing so, he paints a (probably) false picture of people he may never have met. If everyone thinks the Trebizonians are savages without actual knowledge of them, how is that fair at all?
Quote #3
"As occasion demands. I have, my boy, spent my life in constant study. Initiate in the Delphic Mysteries, in the Grand Arcana, adviser to His Exalted Serenity, the prince of Trebizonia. I have been instructed by the Great Copta himself in summoning spirits of the dead—with, naturally, a reasonable amount of help from the living." (14.18)
In order to establish his credibility as Dr. Absalom, Las Bombas reports that he went to really exotic locations. Here then, foreignness is a good thing, as it lends him experience in the realm of the arcane.
Quote #4
He opened his hand, revealing a black pebble the size of an egg. "This, my boy, is worth more than its weight in gold. A priceless fragment from the fabled Mountain of the Moon in Kazanastan. I need only touch it to your brow—thus. Your headache will vanish." (4.23)
Las Bombas trots out a mystical stone, which is probably a rock he found like, two days ago, but it's seen as powerful because of it's fabled magical location. Once again, foreignness allows someone to take the stone seriously—after all, who knows anything about the Mountain of the Moon?—and potentially earn LB money.
Quote #5
"Beggar factory," the dwarf said cheerfully. "No, you wouldn't have heard of that in your little hole-and-corner. But you've never wondered why there's so many beggars? Oh, there's no shortage of first-rate paupers, lame, halt, and blind. But half your noseless, or legless, or hunchbacked—they've been custom-tailored for the trade. Youngsters bought or stolen, then broken past mending, sliced up, squeezed into jars to make them grow crooked. Sold off to a master who pockets whatever charity's thrown to them." (6.25)
To some, Musket, as a dwarf, would be despised and seen as the "other," but interestingly, LB didn't judge him based on that. In fact, he rescued Musket from a place that produced a lot of "others." Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all…
Quote #6
"It is now. If I understand Sparrow, they found it empty and simply moved in. They have no parents, except in the biological sense. They may stay, they may move on. They are here now, which is all that matters to them."
"It is monstrous to think of them growing up in this—sewer, for it is hardly better than one."
"On the contrary," said Keller, "they are among the lucky. Marianstat swarms with waifs and strays, as you surely know. Sometimes I think they must live in the cracks of the sidewalks. For them, what you call a sewer would be a holiday in the country. We, too, should be glad of it as long as we are obliged to stop here." (14.49-51)
Dr. Torrens thinks that growing up as an urchin in the Fingers must be horrible… probably because it's not like any good upbringing he's ever heard about. Keller informs him it might actually defy his expectations though—it's probably better than many other kids' backgrounds. Two different takes on the "other."
Quote #7
"No more of it," said Theo, "that's what I want. Call it harmless amusement if you like. You're taking advantage of people who don't know any better. It's dishonest, it's contemptible." He rounded on Mickle. "You understand what I mean, don't you? You see what we're doing."
"I'm doing what you wanted," the girl retorted. "It was your idea in the first place, wasn't it?"
"No, you don't understand, either," burst out Theo. "Can't you even see what's right or wrong? Or don't you care? I shouldn't have expected any better from you." (11.28-30)
Theo thinks of himself as Mr. Honest, to the point where he insults others for not always telling the truth. He asks Mickle how she could know right from wrong because she wasn't brought up properly—but when he does, he's being a classist hater. Oops.
Quote #8
"Wait a minute," he said to Las Bombas. "You can't just pick her up like a stray cat. She ought to be someplace where she can be looked after properly. It's not fair to the girl—"
"He was talking to me, not you," broke in Mickle. "You stay out of it with your `It's not fair to the girl, she ought to be looked after properly.'" (7.47-48)
Theo advocates that Mickle be returned to "normality," which is regular society where orphans are taken care of. But what about what Mickle wants? What if she doesn't want to be "regular" and doesn't mind being the "other"? She can decide for herself, thankyouverymuch.
Quote #9
Las Bombas shrugged and went on. "In any case, we'll have The Unfortunate Child of Nature. It goes with Dr. Absalom's Elixir. You," he added to Theo, "will be an untamed savage from the wilds of High Brazil—whooping, leaping about, whatever occurs to you. One drink of elixir—you needn't swallow it—and you're calm and happy as a lark. You made a splendid Trebizonian. The Unfortunate Child of Nature is the same, except for the blue and yellow stripes." (7.8)
Las Bombas's schemes include dressing Theo up as a "savage" (which is a pretty othering word in its own right) yet again. He exploits cultural stereotypes for his own monetary gain… yet he rescued Musket from a place that produces "others." A walking contradiction, this LB is.
Quote #10
"I'm not. I'm not used to anything that's happened to me. I'm not used to hoaxing gullible people, or pretending to be a High Brazilian savage—"
"You were very good at it." Mickle grinned for the first time since their meeting.
"That's the trouble, don't you see? When I ran into the count, I thought it would be a chance to see the rest of the world. That's really what I wanted. Not swindling people with elixirs made from ditch water, or claiming to raise ghosts. Least of all, trying to kill someone. But I've done all that. Even getting you out of jail, I lied like a thief. Worse, it didn't bother me at all. What kind of person does that make me?"
"No different from anyone else," Mickle said. "Did you think you were?" (20.29-32)
Mickle's got it going on. She says that Theo needs to take his morals down a peg, and that by pretending to be a savage, he's just doing what he's got to in order survive. Sure it might not be the most ethical choice, but he's keeping himself clothed and fed. Practicality outweighs principles as far as Mickle's concerned.