How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Whip thee!" said Tom, astonished out of his presence of mind. "Why should he whip thee for faults of mine?"
"Ah, your grace forgetteth again. He always scourgeth me, when thou dost fail in thy lessons." (14.47)
Don't you wish you had someone to take the fall every time you did something bad? Seriously, though: what's the point of having a whipping boy? If the prince isn't going to be punished himself, why have someone take the punishment for him? Why not just skip the punishment altogether? We'd like to point out, by the way, that when Edward sees Miles take his punishment for him, he's moved. We can probably assume that he'll do away with whipping boys when he gets on the throne.
Quote #2
"I beg a boon, for my doom is more than I can bear. A grace, a grace, my lord the king! in thy royal compassion grant my prayer—give commandment that I be hanged!"
Tom was amazed. This was not the outcome he had looked for.
"Odds my life, a strange boon! Was it not the fate intended thee?"
"Oh, good my liege, not so! It is ordered that I be boiled alive!" (15.29)
In case you didn't get that, this guy is asking Tom to grant him the favor of being hanged instead of boiled alive—and not just in water, but in oil, which is even worse. It doesn't matter what he did, we're sure that's going way overboard. What does that tell you about this society?
Quote #3
Some—yes. Particularly new-comers—such as small husband-men turned shiftless and hungry upon the world because their farms were taken from them to be changed to sheep-ranges. They begged, and were whipped at the cart's tail, naked from the girdle up, till the blood ran; then set in the stocks to be pelted; they begged again, were whipped again, and deprived of an ear; they begged a third time—poor devils, what else could they do?—and were branded on the cheek with a red-hot iron, then sold for slaves; they ran away, were hunted down, and hanged. (17.34)
Over and over again, we seem to hear the stories of people whose lives have been turned upside down by King Henry VIII's tough and bizarre laws. Then, after their lives have been ruined and they're sent onto the streets, they're not allowed to beg. Since that's the only way they can survive, they do it anyway and get in big trouble for it. They just can't win.