How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"We are slaves, all of us, Will Henry," he said, pulling the book from my hand and placing it upon the nearest stack. "Some are slaves to fear. Others are slaves to reason—or base desire. It is our lot to be slaves, Will Henry, and the question must be to what shall we owe our indenture? Will it be to truth or to falsehood, hope or despair, light or darkness? I choose to serve the light, even though that bondage often lies in darkness. Despair did not drive me to pull that trigger, Will Henry; mercy guided my hand." (4.9)
Whoa. This is a loaded statement, courtesy of Dr. Warthrop. You can decide to agree or disagree with his proposal that we're all slaves to a cause of our choosing, and it's a pretty interesting argument either way. We'd personally argue it's a matter of poor word choice ("slave" is pretty loaded terminology), but as a concept it's pretty solid.
Quote #2
Why did we tarry there reading old books, studying maps, and taking measurements while a pack of thirty sojourners from a nightmare roamed the countryside? We should have roused the residents to flee the creatures' onslaught or throw up barricades against the coming siege. The time to unravel the puzzle of their presence in New Jerusalem was after their eradication, not then, when our very survival hung in the balance. Who else, I wondered, might perish this night in the same unspeakable manner as Erasmus Gray, while the doctor draws his lines and reads his Greek and jots in his little book? Who else will be sacrificed upon the altar of science? (4.25)
Will Henry has a point: Dr. Warthrop's choice to pursue the why's and how's of the Anthropophagi's presence cost the lives of an entire family. Did he truly believe that they didn't pose a danger because they required time to rest after a feeding? Or was it a case of his denial about his father's potential involvement getting in the way of making good decisions?
Quote #3
"And I must say, Will Henry, it is exceedingly curious that you dwell upon the perceived folly and injustice of his end and not upon your own good fortune, the life that would have been forfeit had I not ended his. Do you see? Do you begin to understand why I said he would thank me if he could?" (4.44)
Essentially, Dr. Warthrop chose to save Will Henry rather than save Erasmus—which seems like a pretty normal decision based on their relationship. Throw in the fact that Mr. Gray was already probably a lost cause and the choice becomes an easy one. Dr. Wathrop actually put Erasmus Gray out of his misery, making it a really good call. So why does Will Henry have such a problem with it?