How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Line)
Quote #1
"We were on our own; and so we became fundamentally different beings."
All lies, Frank Chalmers thought irritably. (1.2.1-2)
Right out of the gate, identity takes the stage, and in a conflicting way, too. John says the identity of humanity changed on Mars; Frank thinks it did not. John may die, but that doesn't mean he loses the argument.
Quote #2
Afterward Maya concentrated, trying to recall the looks Boone and Chalmers had exchanged. They had been like something from a code, or the private language invented by identical twins. (2.2.54)
John's identity changes Frank's in the same way Frank's changes John's. Yet the two never seem to come to a common ground regarding their visions on what Mars should be, or Maya for that matter, or chess. Maybe they're more like brothers than Maya knows.
Quote #3
They were all getting media play on Earth, but if you watched some of the news and features, it became clear that some were getting more than others, and this made them seem more powerful, and so they became more powerful in fact, by association. (2.3.32)
They say the camera puts on ten pounds, but that's not the only thing the camera changes about us. Put a camera on someone, and you change their identity and the way people view said identity. And we don't think it's all due to those extra ten pounds either—it's due to being looked at, being the object of the gaze.