How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He could see those roads spinning away from him in different directions. He was standing at their hub, looking down each of them in turn, but he could see only so far, one or two steps ahead at best. (10.18)
When Nailer saves Nita, he closes off one path and opens others, which you could argue contradicts the dominant ideas about fate in this novel.
Quote #8
"Smart enough to know that I can choose who I serve and who I betray, which is more than can be said of the rest of my… people." (17.78)
Tool says that scientists engineered him to be too smart, and the other half-men are supposed to be predictable and have fairly determined lives. How does Tool's intelligence affect his future? And what might Tool's words imply about the other half-men and their fates?
Quote #9
"You're supposed to die with your master. That's what ours always say. That they'll die when we do, that they will die for us."
"Some of us are astonishingly loyal," Tool observed.
"But your genes—"
"If genes are destiny, then Nailer should have sold you to your enemies and spent the bounty on red rippers and Black Ling whiskey" (17.81-84)
Tool recognizes that for all the talk of luck and fate from ship breakers and swanks, people own their own futures. Despite the importance genes might have in Tool and Nailer and Nita's lives, their choices are far more important influence on their futures.