How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The storm looked worse than just a blow, maybe a city killer even, the way the clouds swirled and scattered lightning across the wrecks offshore […]
His father claimed that the storms were worse every year, but Nailer had never seen anything like the monster bearing down on them. (6.4-5)
It's just like an adult to harken back to the good ol' days when everything was better. But when we read about the destruction the storm causes in the novel, we have to wonder if there's some truth to what Richard says.
Quote #2
The beach was empty. Not a sign of human habitation. Out in the blue water, the shadows of the tankers still loomed, randomly scattered like toys, but nothing else remained. The soot was gone, the oil in the waters, everything shone brightly under the blaze of morning tropic sun.
"It's so blue," Pima murmured. "I don't think I've ever seen the water so blue." (7.4-5)
Even though the storm has destroyed buildings, lives, and livelihoods, Nailer and Pima are awed by the beauty of nature as well. In fact, nature has the ability to wipe clean the literal and metaphorical dirt of industrialization. And if that's not power, we don't know what is.
Quote #3
Nita looked at him with disgust. "Don't we already have enough drowned cities? Enough people dying from drought? My family is a clean company. Just because a market exists doesn't mean we have to serve it." (16.22)
There's a whole lotta backstory in this statement. Nita implies that her father, the head of a huge corporation, has a moral obligation to preserve what's left of the natural world, and in doing so, will preserve the rest of humanity. It's morality and nature and humanity all knotted together.