How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I'd escaped from prison almost two years before, but the fact of the fugitive life is that you have to keep on escaping, every day and every night. (1.1.9)
Lin might have busted out of the slammer, but he can't escape the fact that he's been branded as a criminal and has some time to do. Here's where criminality as a concept starts to become clear. It's not just that he committed a crime once. It's that he is a criminal, like it's a part of him that he can't shake.
Quote #2
I was Australia's most wanted man, escaped from a jail term of twenty years for armed robberies, and a hot new name on the Interpol fugitive list. (1.1.98)
We can't help but think that Lin sounds a little bit braggy about all of this. Seriously, "hot new name"? What, is he Lupita Nyong'o? But you can't really blame him. Most wanted lists are kind of like top 40 charts—they make criminals famous, and fame is, well, hot.
Quote #3
The traders in the street stalls outside sold counterfeits of Lacoste, Cardin, and Cartier with a certain impudent panache, the taxi drivers parked along the street accepted tips to tilt their mirrors away from the unlawful or forbidden acts that took place on the seats behind them, and a number of the cops who attended to their duties with diligence, at the station across the road, had paid hefty bribes for the privilege of that lucrative posting in the city centre. (1.2.112)
So, you're saying Bombay might have a teensy weensy problem with criminality? Lin is giving us the lowdown on how every single citizen participates in corruption, each in his or her own special way. It's not just the big bad guys who make the city lawless; it's a culture of corruption.