How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"You gave your talisman away," he said, hunting for words. He didn't want to speak, but he had to; he could do nothing else, because what he wanted to do was hit Alan. […]
"I can't believe you were so stupid. Not again!" (2.175-176)
Alan kind of reminds us of a Knight of the Round Table, always willing to throw down his jacket (or his talisman, or his life) for someone else. But is it really moral of him to sacrifice himself for Mae, or even Mae and Jamie, when there are already two people who so greatly depend upon him?
Quote #2
"Did you know that [the Obsidian Circle] was the Circle that killed a man called Daniel Ryves?"
Nick thought of being eight years old and watching his father fall to ash.
"This Circle has something to pay for, then," he said. "I'm glad you told me. I'll be glad to kill them." (6.122-124)
(Note: This is between Liannan and Nick.) We get it: they killed his dad, he wants revenge. This goes straight to the question of whether or not it's ever okay to kill another person (and when we say okay, we mean okay/justified—not okay/hunky-dory). It's pretty clear how Nick feels about that question in this moment, but we wonder if he still feels the same by the end of the story. What do you think?
Quote #3
Nick would have sacrificed Mum to save Alan, every time. (6.184)
Eek. All alone like this, this quote doesn't make Nick look very good, but in context? Mum hasn't exactly been kind to Nick over the years—in fact, she's been downright abusive. So really, this sentiment doesn't make us question Nick's morality quite as much as we would if Mum was a little more like, say, Mary Poppins. But what if in order to sacrifice Mum—to save Alan, of course—Nick had to actually be the one to kill her? Hmm. Let's think on that.