Foreignness and the Other Quotes in The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #7

The Victorians wanted to know, in effect, why some apes had evolved into English gentleman and why some hadn't. (14.20)

Considering the barbaric way some of these "gentleman" act, we're not quite sure the apes evolved all that much.

Quote #8

"My experience is that few of these savages are naturally 'bad,' unless contact with 'savages' from the outside world has made them so." (14.22)

Again, Fawcett is very forward thinking here. He realizes that the white explorers might be the true savages in the jungle.

Quote #9

"A nineteenth-century German traveler wrote that "from that time onwards [the Xavante] no longer trusted any white man… These abused people have therefore changed from compatriots into the most dangerous and determined enemies. They generally kill anyone they can easily catch." (20.68)

If the classic Jennifer Lopez film Enough taught us anything, it's that a person—or in this case an entire group of people—can only take so much abuse before they turn the tables on their attackers.