How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"I always hated it," [Colin] answered, "even when I was very little. Then when they took me to the seaside and I used to lie in my carriage everybody used to stare and ladies would stop and talk to my nurse and then they would begin to whisper and I knew then they were saying I shouldn't live to grow up. Then sometimes the ladies would pat my cheeks and say 'Poor child!' Once when a lady did that I screamed out loud and bit her hand. She was so frightened she ran away." (15.9)
We eventually find out that Colin's illness is more mental than physical, but even so, he's had to deal with the public discrimination that a lot of people with physical differences struggle with to this day. For the record, while biting someone is pretty awful, we're mostly on Colin's side with this one—imagine being pinched on the cheek and treated like a doll, just because you aren't walking alongside your nanny/nurse. Blerg.
Quote #5
"Everyone thought I was going to die," said Colin shortly. "I'm not!"
And he said it with such decision Ben Weatherstaff looked him over, up and down, down and up.
"Tha' die!" he said with dry exultation. "Nowt o' th' sort! Tha's got too much pluck in thee. When I seed thee put tha' legs on th' ground in such a hurry I knowed tha' was all right. Sit thee down on th' rug a bit young Mester an' give me thy orders." (22.25-27)
So, we're going to call Ben out for saying something super-creepy here: He tells Colin that he knows Colin won't die because he's "got too much pluck." In other words, Ben thinks that, now that Colin has come out of his shell and out of his mansion, he has too much willpower and strength to die.
Not clear on the creep factor? This implies physical illness is somehow a sign of personal weakness. Sure, Colin's illness is mental rather than physical. But the general idea that "pluck" will save you from dying is a pretty awful one, because it places the responsibility for living and dying solely on the sick person's shoulders. As The Fault In Our Stars teaches us, you can die tragically no matter how awesome you are. We're glad Colin gets better, but we're still creeped out by the implications of Ben's link between physical and personal weakness.
Quote #6
Even Mary had found out that one of Colin's chief peculiarities was that he did not know in the least what a rude little brute he was with his way of ordering people about. He had lived on a sort of desert island all his life and as he had been the king of it he had made his own manners and had had no one to compare himself with. (23.6)
Colin has been so isolated growing up that he doesn't even recognize that his behavior is bad. Not only is this a sign of his neglectful father's treatment, but it's also proof of a problem of the English class system at the time. Colin isn't just a brat; he's also a super-rich brat left in the care of servants who treat him like "the king" because he's the son of their employer. So he's both a victim of child neglect and a terrible, spoiled bully. It's a doozy.