How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Of course, Fishboy could read or he wouldn't be here. But where had he learned? There were no schools in the South End slums of Limòri. There were no schools in the farm villages, either. Most people never learned to read. (14.33)
Pro tip: it's easier to suppress an ignorant population than it is an educated population. And so it makes sense that reading and writing would be closely guarded skills in a world where social and economic inequalities are so prevalent. Heck, that even applies in our world. So if you're reading this, take a moment to be grateful that you're fortunate enough to be able to read things… on the Internet, even.
Quote #5
Sadima was dumbstruck. It was one thing to see a carriage from a princess story before her eyes, but to be asked to ride in it? The seats were deep green velvet, tufted, soft. (15.16)
To someone like Sadima, who's lived her whole life on a farm surrounded by other peasants, seeing an actual noble is like something out of a story. She's probably never seen that much velvet in her life before, either. People in Sadima's village are lucky just to get by; they'll probably never be able to afford luxury items.
Quote #6
Sadima stood to one side of the arch, her heart fluttery. Somiss was royal? No wonder Maude was taken with him. Sadima had heard of royalty in campfire tales, but in the stories they were almost always wicked. (17.46)
What's that? In the tales peasants tell, royal people are wicked? You don't say. We're just gonna take a stab at this one and guess that peasants tell stories about royals much the same way people in our world follow the gossip about Hollywood celebrities: with envy. Except that while celebrities aren't really oppressing any of us, the royals probably have a hand in keeping the peasants poor.