How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #7
It reminded me of a time thirteen centuries away, when the "poor whites" of our South who were always despised and frequently insulted by the slave-lords around them, and who owed their base condition simply to the presence of slavery in their midst, were yet pusillanimously ready to side with the slave-lords in all political moves for the upholding and perpetuating of slavery. (30.10)
More philosophizing: Hank draws a direct link to the slavery of 19th century America, and also talks about how it causes people to work against their own best interests. The Civil War ended twenty years before Twain wrote the novel, but a lot of the issues it caused were still around, stinking up life for everyone: poverty, racism, and inequality, especially in the South.
Quote #8
SLAVES! The word had a new sound—and how unspeakably awful! (34.12)
It's never quite so bad until it happens to you, is it?
Quote #9
What Englishman was the most interested in the slavery question by that time? His grace the king! (34.2)
It takes actually being enslaved himself to get Arthur to see reason, suggesting that it's really hard to change people's minds sometimes. We can see similar behavior today when people talk about strongly held political beliefs—there's lots of yelling and screaming, even when they can't come up with a good reason to support their argument. Sometimes you've got to get cut yourself to realize that you can bleed, too.