How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
The doctor said nothing. In a slow circle he turned, hands upon hips, pirouetting to survey the carnage, his expression at once one of fascination and detachment, marveling at the sheer savageness of the attack yet removed from its arrant horror, heart divorced from mind, emotions from intellect, the quint-essential scientist, set apart from the very race to which he belonged. (8.48)
Why do you think they say that in order to be the "quintessential scientist" you need to be totally removed from what you're studying? How would being emotionally involved affect the ability to be scientifically apt?
Quote #5
"Perhaps you were spared for a reason, Malachi," the constable said. "Have you thought of that? All things do happen for a reason… Is this not the foundation of our faith? You are here—all of us—because we are but part of a plan prepared before the foundations of the earth. It is our humble duty to discern our role in that plan. I do not pretend to know what mine or anyone's might be, but it could be you were spared so no more innocent lives might be lost." (8.134)
Believing that your life is all part of a grander plan can be a small comfort in hard moments like this one. If it all happened for a purpose, and not because it was random awfulness, then maybe something good could come out of all of the pain.
Quote #6
With a snort the doctor abandoned any pretense of compassion and spoke harshly to the tormented boy. "Your self-pity mocks your faith, Malachi Stinnet. And every minute you wallow in it is a minute lost. The greatest minds of medieval Europe argued how many angels could dance upon the head of a pin, while the plague took the lives of twenty million. Now is not the time to indulge in esoteric debate upon the whimsy of the gods!" (8.137)
Leave it to Dr. Warthrop to take the small comfort Constable Morgan was trying to offer and slam it in Malachi's face. He's doing this because he thinks the events are comparable: Instead of wallowing in self-pity (which in his analogy is as useless as arguing about the physical mass of an angel), Malachi needs to tell Warthrop what he saw in order to help combat the Anthropophagi (who are like the plague). Subtle.