How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Cripes!" shouted Furlough again. "Oh, cripes! He's nuts! He's a goner!"
And executing a classic scurry, Furlough went off to tell his father, Lester Tilling, the terrible, unbelievable news of what he had just seen. (5.11-12)
The mouse world has a code of conduct that they all take very seriously, but Despereaux doesn't seem to understand this. The principle of not hanging out with humans is designed to protect all the mice.
Quote #2
"If there is one thing I have learned in this world," said Lester, "it is that mice must act like mice or else there is bound to be trouble. I will call a special meeting of the Mouse Council. Together, we will decide what must be done." (6.7)
Do you think that sometimes a community has to enforce its rules for the greater good even if it means sacrificing one member of the community? After all, if Despereaux got caught by a human, then people might come after all the mice.
Quote #3
"Rodents do not speak to princesses. We will not have this becoming a topsy-turvy, wrongheaded world. There are rules. Scat. Get lost, before my common sense returns and I have you killed." (7.32)
King Phillip has different reasons for enforcing the principle of human-rodent non-coexistence. It's not a threat to him in the same way it is for the mice. But the king obviously feels that if this principle was set aside, it would be a very confusing world. It's fun to consider what would happen to the relationships between people and animals if animals could talk. We'd all be vegetarians, probably.