How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Over the next hour, Grandfather instructed as Arthur rebuilt the wings' motor. (25.54)
If Grandfather can talk a young-ish kid through rebuilding a motor, he certainly gets props for being an intelligent inventor-type. Grandfather had built the wings himself, as well as the doll-communicator, and so it makes sense that he can give step-by-step instructions to repair them. At this point we're not sure if we're more impressed with Grandfather or with Arthur, since they both seem like super-smart tech-heads.
Quote #5
"Truthfully?" Marjorie looked very embarrassed. "I was very interested in the scientific principles involved in making it. I just wanted to see if it would work. I hadn't really worked out what it was going to be used for," said Marjorie. (31.53)
When Willbury questions Marjorie as to why she made the resizing machine in the first place, her answer is a pretty standard one for science-y types: she was curious. This means that she didn't really get around to thinking through the implications of such a machine. What would happen if the wrong people got their hands on it, for example? We get a glimpse of this possibility when Snatcher uses the resizing machine for his own evil plans.
Quote #6
"He ran a mill that had always produced really dodgy cheese. They used all kinds of evil processes. One of their tricks was to boil down cheese rings, extract the oil, and then inject it into immature cheeses. It was illegal…and cruel, but they had got away with it. What they didn't realize was that as the pollution got worse, making cheese oil was concentrating the poisons." (39.24)
Thank you, Grandfather, for such an in-depth account of where the early cheese barons (particularly Snatcher's father) went wrong in their quest for modernizing the cheese industry. We all love cheese—who doesn't, right?—but apparently, trying to improve the technology to make cheese production more efficient can be dangerous. So it seems like wholeheartedly embracing technology for its own sake may not always be the answer.