How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
They heard somewhere in that tenantless night a bell that tolled and ceased where no bell was and they rode out on the round dais of the earth which alone was dark and no light to it and which carried their figures and bore them up into the swarming stars so that they rode not under but among them and they rode at once jaunty and circumspect, like young thieves in a glowing orchard, loosely jacketed against the cold and ten thousand words for the choosing. (429)
Do you think that this sense of freedom, suggested by this early passage as Rawlins and John Grady ride off toward Mexico, continues throughout the novel? How does it change, and in what ways?
Quote #5
Ever dumb thing I ever done in my life there was a dumb decision I made before that got me into it. It was never the dumb thing. It was always some choice I'd made before it. (1157)
Rawlins makes this argument to justify leaving Blevins behind, and his instinct turns out to be right. (Pro tip: always listen to the prescient complaining sidekick.) What might the novel be trying to say here—do we always have a choice? Are certain choices predetermined by other choices, or possibly by something else?
Quote #6
You ever think about dyin?
Yeah. Some. You?
Yeah. Some. You think there's a heaven?
Yeah. Dont you?
I dont know. Yeah. Maybe. You think you can believe in heaven if you dont believe in hell?
I guess you can believe what you want to.
Rawlins nodded. You think about all the stuff that can happen to you, he said. There aint no end to it.
You fixin to get religion on us?
No. Just sometimes I wonder if I wouldnt be better off if I did. (1391-9)
This quote, coming when John and Rawlins are on the run for abetting Blevins, shows Rawlins wondering about the afterlife. The element of choice here—you can believe in religion or not, or whatever you want—seems to take away the very significance of belief at first.