How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"No more of it," said Theo, "that's what I want. Call it harmless amusement if you like. You're taking advantage of people who don't know any better. It's dishonest, it's contemptible." He rounded on Mickle. "You understand what I mean, don't you? You see what we're doing."
"I'm doing what you wanted," the girl retorted. "It was your idea in the first place, wasn't it?"
"No, you don't understand, either," burst out Theo. "Can't you even see what's right or wrong? Or don't you care? I shouldn't have expected any better from you." (11.28-30)
Theo thinks of himself as Mr. Honest, to the point where he insults others for not always telling the truth. He asks Mickle how she could know right from wrong because she wasn't brought up properly—but when he does, he's being a classist hater. Oops.
Quote #8
"Wait a minute," he said to Las Bombas. "You can't just pick her up like a stray cat. She ought to be someplace where she can be looked after properly. It's not fair to the girl—"
"He was talking to me, not you," broke in Mickle. "You stay out of it with your `It's not fair to the girl, she ought to be looked after properly.'" (7.47-48)
Theo advocates that Mickle be returned to "normality," which is regular society where orphans are taken care of. But what about what Mickle wants? What if she doesn't want to be "regular" and doesn't mind being the "other"? She can decide for herself, thankyouverymuch.
Quote #9
Las Bombas shrugged and went on. "In any case, we'll have The Unfortunate Child of Nature. It goes with Dr. Absalom's Elixir. You," he added to Theo, "will be an untamed savage from the wilds of High Brazil—whooping, leaping about, whatever occurs to you. One drink of elixir—you needn't swallow it—and you're calm and happy as a lark. You made a splendid Trebizonian. The Unfortunate Child of Nature is the same, except for the blue and yellow stripes." (7.8)
Las Bombas's schemes include dressing Theo up as a "savage" (which is a pretty othering word in its own right) yet again. He exploits cultural stereotypes for his own monetary gain… yet he rescued Musket from a place that produces "others." A walking contradiction, this LB is.