How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
[Sullivan] kept telling himself that there was nothing to fear. No inspection of the whale, however close, could reveal its secret. But there was always the chance that Karellen suspected something—and was playing with them. (13.22)
Karellen's character is so manipulative that neither we nor the characters can ever be certain whether he's being genuine. He's like that jokester friend that keeps you on edge since you're always afraid he'll shout, "Gotcha!" at any moment.
Quote #8
New Athens was not a natural and spontaneous growth like the city whose name it bore. Everything about the colony was deliberately planned, as the result of many years of study by a group of very remarkable men. (15.42)
When the novel says everything was deliberately planned, we can interpret that as a type of manipulation. Again, notice how it took a whole bunch of humans together to pull it off.
Quote #9
"We are the interpreters—the guardians. Or, to use one of your other metaphors, we till the field until the crop is ripe. The Overmind collects the harvest—and we move on to another task." (23.33)
So… the Overlords do all the work and the Overmind collects the rewards? It seems the manipulators are themselves manipulated.