How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
But here, in our tunnel, we feel it no longer. The air is pure under the ground. There is no odor of men. And these three hours give us strength for our hours above the ground. (2.44)
The kind of freedom Equality 7-2521 craves most is freedom from others, freedom from the "odor of men." Being around other people all the time is oppressive. What's particularly ironic about this is that Equality 7-2521 is alone in a dark, underground space writing this – just the kind of place you might normally associate with confinement. But for him, the tunnel means freedom. He can be alone. And he's become addicted to it: he needs it now to get through the rest of the day.
Quote #5
All is not well with our brothers. There are Fraternity 2-5503, a quiet boy with wise, kind eyes, who cry suddenly, without reason, in the midst of day or night, and their body shakes with sobs they cannot explain. There are Solidarity 9-6347, who are a bright youth, without fear in the day; but they scream in their sleep, and they scream: "Help us! Help us! Help us!" into the night, in a voice which chills our bones, but the Doctors cannot cure Solidarity 9-6347. (2.46)
Equality 7-2521's not the only one who feels oppressed by his society: even his fellow Street Sweepers appear to be traumatized by it. What Solidarity 9-6347 seems to be calling out for in his sleep is to be set free from the yoke of society. (Equality 7-2521 will make something of this later.)
Quote #6
We opened our eyes, lying on our stomach on the brick floor of a cell. We looked upon two hands lying far before us on the bricks, and we moved them, and we knew that they were our hands. (6.21)
Equality 7-2521's "imprisonment" in society just got literal: he's now physically been put in prison.