How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Why are we called by names, when all others have numbers?"
"For the reason that you are the experiment, and all the rest of this… the house, the guests, the servants…all are in service of that pursuit of truth. You are central to the work; we, but the disembodied observers of your progress. (1.11.56-57)
Mr. G has just informed Octavian that he gets a name because he's the guy who matters; the rest of them are all "disembodied observers." But what about when Mr. G. punishes Octavian for doing things he shouldn't do (like sneaking into the room with all the records on him)? Is that being a "disembodied observer"?
Quote #8
He gave a canny look, and explained slowly, "We are providing you with an education equal to any of the princes of Europe… We wish to divine whether you are a separate and distinct species. Thus, we wish to determine your capacity, as an African prince, for the acquisition of the nobel arts and sciences." (1.11.61)
So… Octavian's education is really all for the education of the scholars… which seems a little self-serving of Mr. G, no?
Quote #9
I asked Dr. 09-01 how far it was around the Earth.
He considered. "We have estimated some twenty-five thousand miles."
I tallied upon my fingers. "Then," ventured I, "in that man's life, he has walked backwards around the Earth three and a half times?"
Dr. 09-01 was very pleased with this, and laughed, tugging upon my lapel, saying "Indeed! Or a third of the way to the moon!"
I delighted in the thought of the man plowing backwards through the seats, the cord stretched before him, or stalking the deserts of Cathay or the Indian jungles, oblivious to tigers, pausing for his tobacco in the shadow of some heathen shrine or suspended near a mountain peak. (1.18.4-8)
How cool is Dr. 09-01? We know you're wondering why your math class can't be like Octavian's—all about wandering in the outdoors and exploring the world through calculations and pure creative imagination. Before you get jealous, though, we'll remind you that Octavian's enslaved, plus things pretty much just go downhill from here for him.