How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
[Michael's intentions] were not good. He wanted a race of exotics skipping around being picturesque for him. What were those welfare mothers supposed to put in those pots? (3.131)
As far as Valerian is concerned, his son Michael isn't actually interested in helping people. He's more like an anthropologist who's fascinated by different cultures. That's not the same thing as being a good person. In fact, Valerian thinks that Michael is actually exploiting the people he helps by treating them like novelties.
Quote #2
As long as he burrowed in his plate like an animal, grunting in monosyllables, but not daring to look up, she was without fear. But when he smiled she saw small dark dogs galloping on silver feet. (4.79)
When she first encounters Son, Jade thinks of him as a primate animal. It's only when he smiles that she realizes he's a human being with secret thoughts. That's when she becomes uncomfortable, because she's forced to confront the fact that he's a human and that she has no clue what he's planning.
Quote #3
She caught the scent twelve days ago: the smell of a fasting, or starving, as the case might be, human. It was the smell of human afterbirth that only humans could produce. (4.188)
Thérèse's blindness has left her with an incredible sense of smell, which is why she knows that Son is around before anyone else on Isle des Chevaliers. She can tells he's around specifically because his starvation gives him a primitive smell that only humans are capable of producing. Thérèse's ability to detect this smell also gives her a closer connection to the world of primitive human nature, which is probably why she's also so good at reading people's true motives.