How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The problem was that he didn't necessarily want to. He had never killed anyone in his life, and he didn't want to start now. He wanted to understand all sides of a conflict before he ever had to pick up a weapon. (6.34)
Leave it to Toussaint to think about violence rationally. The book shows us there's just no avoiding violence during a revolution (or in the Site), though. It doesn't matter whether you want to engage in violence or not; you have to if you live in a situation like the characters do.
Quote #5
There were those who were so filled with hate by their experience, by their oppression, that they snapped and destroyed property or people. There were those who were so filled with sadness by their experience that they snapped and destroyed themselves; someone would find them hanging in the barn, or lying in the field with slit wrists. (6.37)
The three different types of slaves that Toussaint comes up with are very telling about his personality. To boil it down, slaves resort to either violence, sadness, or justice because they have suffered injustice. Unfortunately, most enslaved people fall into the first category. Luckily for them, Toussaint is squarely in the third.
Quote #6
I was in front of the door and I raised the shotgun as the shadow of a man loomed before me. I pulled the trigger. It was that quick. There was a boom so loud, like the world was falling down, and I saw a spray of black and red. I was thrown backward, and my shoulder was screaming where the stock of the gun had blown back into it. (13.141)
We're given a crash course in violence through Shorty's eyes. The first time he killed someone, Shorty was only twelve-years-old. Let that sink in for a moment. He's just a kid, not ready to enter the world or do much on his own, when he's forced into a world of gangs and shooting.