How we cite our quotes: (Chapter, Paragraph)
Quote #7
"What does that have to do with anything?" she says, "Why would any reasonable church want to be cut off from itself?"
"Ben says that they came to this world for the simpler life, said that there was even a fight in the early days whether to destroy the fission generators." (21.100-101)
Viola asks a decent question: Why would a society (the church) which is meant to draw people together cut itself apart? It's kind of against its own purpose. But when it comes down to survival, Todd argues, people will do what they want to survive. As we can see, putting our individual want for safety about the common good leads to all kinds of division and chaos.
Quote #8
It's all wild, tho. No fences, no field of crops, and no signs of any kind of settlement or people except for the dusty road itself. Which is good in one way but weird in another.
If New World isn't sposed to have been wiped out, where is everybody? (21.52-53)
Todd's used to a world where everything is regulated for everybody, and the idea of untamed land is a totally new thing for him to see. What's the purpose of all this land if people haven't settled it? He's used to living in a society and can't identify what to do when he's alone in nature.
Quote #9
"What did I say before?" I snap back. "Some of us were busy surviving and couldn't learn about subdividing farming." (21.149)
Todd and Viola are arguing about the individual's role in society because their different societies have made them different types of individuals, who value different things. Todd thinks that a person's role is to start working to help support the community right away. Viola's been taught all the theories of how societies work, though, and she's arguing for the importance of education.