Society and Class Quotes in Mortal Engines

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

We are experimenting with ways of turning [poo] into a tasty and nutritious snack. We feed our prisoners on nothing else. Unfortunately they keep dying. But that is just a temporary setback, I'm sure. (16.22)

Yikes. Experiments done on prisoners without their knowledge? Totally sci-fi, right? Would never happen here... oh, wait. This did happen at the Holmesberg Prison in Philadelphia (source). So much for the City of Brotherly Love.

Quote #8

"We have no hospital down here. These are prisoners. [...] Criminals. They don't require medical care." (16.36)

These prisoners aren't even second-class citizens. They're no-class citizens, treated as livestock. Hey, by the way, how did these people get into prison in the first place? If you're living at the lowest level of society without any resources, and things get desperate, maybe you'd become a criminal, too, right? Don't tell that to the Top Tier in London, we guess.

Quote #9

Who cared if people were dying of heat stroke down in the Nether Boroughs? Good old London Good old Crome! (18.1)

Can a country (or giant rolling city, in this case) be considered great and wonderful if it has no regard for its lower-class people? The way a country treats its poor is a big indicator of its value as a whole. What do you think of London here?