How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
He opened his hand, revealing a black pebble the size of an egg. "This, my boy, is worth more than its weight in gold. A priceless fragment from the fabled Mountain of the Moon in Kazanastan. I need only touch it to your brow—thus. Your headache will vanish." (4.23)
Las Bombas trots out a mystical stone, which is probably a rock he found like, two days ago, but it's seen as powerful because of it's fabled magical location. Once again, foreignness allows someone to take the stone seriously—after all, who knows anything about the Mountain of the Moon?—and potentially earn LB money.
Quote #5
"Beggar factory," the dwarf said cheerfully. "No, you wouldn't have heard of that in your little hole-and-corner. But you've never wondered why there's so many beggars? Oh, there's no shortage of first-rate paupers, lame, halt, and blind. But half your noseless, or legless, or hunchbacked—they've been custom-tailored for the trade. Youngsters bought or stolen, then broken past mending, sliced up, squeezed into jars to make them grow crooked. Sold off to a master who pockets whatever charity's thrown to them." (6.25)
To some, Musket, as a dwarf, would be despised and seen as the "other," but interestingly, LB didn't judge him based on that. In fact, he rescued Musket from a place that produced a lot of "others." Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all…
Quote #6
"It is now. If I understand Sparrow, they found it empty and simply moved in. They have no parents, except in the biological sense. They may stay, they may move on. They are here now, which is all that matters to them."
"It is monstrous to think of them growing up in this—sewer, for it is hardly better than one."
"On the contrary," said Keller, "they are among the lucky. Marianstat swarms with waifs and strays, as you surely know. Sometimes I think they must live in the cracks of the sidewalks. For them, what you call a sewer would be a holiday in the country. We, too, should be glad of it as long as we are obliged to stop here." (14.49-51)
Dr. Torrens thinks that growing up as an urchin in the Fingers must be horrible… probably because it's not like any good upbringing he's ever heard about. Keller informs him it might actually defy his expectations though—it's probably better than many other kids' backgrounds. Two different takes on the "other."