Quote 7
"Why not let the hog die without knowing anything?" (4.107)
Grant is wrestling with himself here, wondering whether it's worthwhile at all to help someone when you know they're going to die anyway. However, isn't that the case of all of us? We may not be sitting on death row, but we are all mortals (except for you X-Men in the back row. We see you.).
Quote 8
"God?" I said. Because I had never heard him say God before. Because when we had said our Bible verses for him, he seemed to have hated the very words we spoke. (8.37)
Grant seems to be following in Professor Antoine's footsteps, because he hates listening to the Bible verses just as much as his old teacher did. However, the old man seems to have come to a new understanding of God as he gets closer to death.
Quote 9
"Do I know how a man is supposed to die? I'm still trying to find out how a man should live." (4.105)
One important part of growing up is facing the fact that one day life is going to end. Grant still hasn't even figured out the right way to act like a grown-up, and what his responsibilities are to his community. He knows he'll have to figure those questions out before he can ever know how he's supposed to die well.