The Future of Us Freedom and Confinement Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Chapter, Paragraph

Quote #4

"No, now you're wrong," she says. "If it was a prank, nothing would've changed between yesterday and today. But everything I did differently today sent little ripples of change into the future." (14.45)

Yay—freedom. Emma and Josh discover that they can still change what happens to them in the future; it's not a done deal. Each action that they take in the present, however small, changes what happens next. This Facebook thing might actually have a helpful side to it, after all…

Quote #5

Ms. Nesbit fidgets with one of her earrings. "Any state in particular?"

My pulse quickens. "California?"

"You should try the public library," Ms. Nesbit says. "They have phone books from all over the country. I'm sure they have some from California." (19.28-30)

Emma decides to change her future and make sure that she never meets Jordan Jones Jr. This is a huge because it shows that knowing the future doesn't have to mean confinement; instead, Emma can use her future as a warning sign and change things accordingly. Instead of being trapped, here we see Emma taking charge.

Quote #6

Emma sits behind me on the bed. She rubs her hands together to warm them up. My mind tells me to pull away, but I can't.

"I don't understand," I say.

She presses her fingers along the muscles at the back of my neck. "I think we need to realize there's no way to control these particular types of changes." (26.69-71)

There are a couple types of confinement here: Josh has just found out a small change in the present has changed his future children, and he's confused and kind of sad because those kids he saw in pictures will never exist—and he didn't try to change that. Also, as Emma is making a move on him, Josh finds himself wanting to pull away (since he knows it's dangerous territory) but he finds himself rooted to the spot. He's double trapped here, Shmoopers.