How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Everyone has some darkness inside. It's like a hungry creature. It wants and wants and wants with a terrible power." (13.8)
Clary's description of selfish and greedy feelings connects them to power, and rightly so. Once we give in to those feelings, we give them power over us. And once they get a hold on us, they're harder to say no to. That's what happened to the mayor, Looper, and Lizzie. Lina is lucky to escape with her sense of self intact.
Quote #8
If he still had light bulbs when everyone else in Ember had run out, would he enjoy sitting in his lit room while the rest of the city drowned in darkness? And when the power finally ran out for good, all his light bulbs would be useless. (14.1)
Electrical power is a limited good in Ember, since the generator is breaking down and no one knows how to fix it. The mayor either doesn't realize this or is too selfish to care. But his situation with electrical power parallels his situation with political power: both will only last so long.
Quote #9
Doon watched until the moth disappeared. He knew he had seen something marvelous. What was the power that turned the worm into a moth? It was greater than any power the Builders had had, he was sure of that. The power that ran the city of Ember was feeble by comparison—and was about to run out. (15.22)
Dare we compare the power of life to the power of electricity? How are they similar and different? To Doon, who (to be honest) doesn't really understand either, the power of life is much more amazing than electricity. Maybe it's the novelty. Maybe it's the fact that life is renewable and sustainable in ways that electricity isn't. It sounds like we're writing an ad for eco-friendly energy, doesn't it? Maybe Ember should've been powered with solar panels… but that would've assumed that there wasn't going to be a nuclear winter or something similarly terrible to black out the sun. Yeah, maybe it's better that they went with a river-powered generator (even though it's not as cool as metamorphosis in Doon's opinion).