Woman on the Edge of Time Morality and Ethics Quotes

Accepting death is part of living a moral life, in Mattapoisett. Connie sort of accepts a kind of death at the end of the book; it's not entirely clear whether that makes her more moral or not.

In the future, they spend a lot of time negotiating and involving the community in individual relationships. It's like if you didn't like somebody in your class very much, and then the entire school had a series of assemblies to try to get you two to like each other more. Would that make school a more moral and healthful place, with less bullying? Or would it make you feel like you had no privacy at all?

When you think about cars and morality, it's usually in the context of pumping out greenhouse gasses and fouling the atmosphere. Mattapoisett is very eco-friendly, but Luciente is even more struck by how isolated and isolating cars are. One of the big differences between Mattapoisett and the past is the isolation; the future is very community-oriented. The past drives around in boxes—which Luciente seems to be suggesting makes the past sadder, and perhaps less capable of morality as well.