How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
"When you're in a pressure-cooker you learn to live and let live or somebody will carve you a brand-new mouth just above the Adam's apple. You learn to make allowances." (127)
Prison's tough—we get that—but it seems to be just as tough for the guards as it is for the prisoners. They have to allow some flexibility and allow the prisoners to have the occasional nice thing, or else they're going to suffer as much as the prisoners. Freedom and confinement are kind of the same for them, and this not the first time King draws connections between the prisoners and the guards.
Quote #2
When you're in stir, you belong to the state and if you forget it, woe is you." (152)
There's an interesting turn of phrase here. King says "the state," instead of "the warden." It's almost as if the prisoners are being confined by some large inhuman entity instead of actual people. The wardens come and go, but "the state" is there to stay. Not a happy thought.
Quote #3
"Andy simply forced him, the way a strong man can force a weaker man's wrist to the table in a game of Indian wrestling." (181)
This duel of wills has a lot to do with freedom, as Andy tries to score some beers for his fellow prisoners. In this story, freedom is about more than wanting it—you have to be tough enough to earn it, just like Andy Skunk Eye's Hadley into giving him what he wants.