How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph) Note that chapters aren't numbered, so need to be numbered manually, 1 to 14.
Quote #7
"In a way, it's a super-copy, a reproduction which is superior to the original." (7.159)
If a copy is better than the original, is it still a copy? Or is it instead more real than the original? In this case, it's worth noting, the copied Rheya is the only Rheya we know; we never meet the original Rheya, and Kelvin hardly mentions her. So in terms of the novel, too, the fake Rheya is more real than the "real" Rheya.
Quote #8
"You are not Gibarian."
"No? Then who am I? A dream?"
"No, you are only a puppet. But you don't realize that you are."
"And how do you know what you are?" (9.41-44)
Is Kelvin dreaming this, or is Gibarian there as a ghost, or as a visitor? It's never exactly clear. Either way, it's true that Gibarian is a puppet; he's a character in a book after all. He doesn't realize it, though. Do you?
Quote #9
"I felt as if there was no body underneath my skin and there was something else instead: as if I was just an illusion meant to mislead you. You see?" (9.159)
Rheya is despairing because she's realized she isn't real; she's just a hollow shell meant to deceive. That's the truth. But it's also the truth that people actually feel that way; Rheya could be describing a state of depression, of alienation from the self. Feeling unreal is one way real people feel. Again, Rheya feels more real as a character in part because she is able to articulate these feelings of unreality. The less real she feels the more real she feels.