How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He hadn't thought he would ever be full again, knew only the hunger, and here he was full. One turtle egg and a few handfuls of berries and he felt full. He looked down at his stomach and saw that it was still caved in—did not bulge out as it would have with two hamburgers and a freezy slush. It must have shrunk. And there was still hunger there, but not like it was—not tearing at him. This was hunger that he knew would be there always, even when he had food—a hunger that made him look for things, see things. A hunger to make him hunt. (12.9)
Like at other points in the book, Brian here compares who he is in the woods with who he was in the city. Being "full" in the city sounds a lot like pigging out, whereas being "full" in the woods is a very different thing. With his new appreciation of even the little bit of food he can find, Brian requires less to be satisfied.
Quote #8
Mistakes.
Small mistakes could turn into disasters, funny little mistakes could snowball so that while you were still smiling at the humor you could find yourself looking at death. In the city if he made a mistake usually there was a way to rectify it, make it all right. If he fell on his bike and sprained a leg he could wait for it to heal; if he forgot something at the store he could find other food in the refrigerator.
Now it was so different, and all so quick, all so incredibly quick. If he sprained a leg here he might starve before he could get around again; if he missed while he was hunting or if the fish moved away he might starve. If he got sick, really sick so he couldn't move he might starve. (14.1-3)
One of the most important differences between the city and the natural world, of course, is that the stakes are much higher in the natural world. In the city, people are often protected from the consequences of their mistakes. They mess up, they try again. Definitely makes things easier, that's for sure.
Quote #9
It had always been so simple at home. He would go to the store and get a chicken and it was all cleaned and neat, no feathers or insides, and his mother would bake it in the oven and he would eat it. His mother from the old time, from the time before, would bake it. (15.22)
Again, Brian reflects on the ease of getting food back in the civilized world. In the woods, he has to kill the bird himself, then clean it, cook it—the whole shebang. Is it really "so simple" in civilization, though? Although Brian himself doesn't have to prepare the meat, doesn't somebody? What happens in order for it to appear "all cleaned and neat" at the store?