How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
In the Amazon, Fawcett marveled, the animal kingdom "is against man as it is nowhere else in the world." (8.29)
Many explorers and scientists are so focused on the tribes being "savages" or "cannibals" that they lose sight of the true antagonist in the jungle: nature. It's possible to make friends with a tribe. It's not possible to make friends with a genital-biting parasite.
Quote #8
Although Westerners were fixated on cannibalism […] and often exaggerated its extent in order to justify their conquest of indigenous people, there is no question that some Amazonian tribes practiced it, either for ritualistic reasons or for vengeance. (8.34)
Here we see Grann (and Fawcett) giving us a more nuanced look at the Amazonian tribes. Instead of just labeling these people "cannibals" and calling it a day (and running in the other direction), he explores why these people might be cannibals. In the morality of the jungle, it's not unusual or unacceptable.
Quote #9
"If it were up to me, I would take you for free," Taukane said. "But all Indians must now be capitalists. We have no choice." (21.9)
As so-called "civilization" encroaches on the Amazon, the Amazon becomes more "civilized," bringing all of the negative aspects—greed, violence, bad TV—with it.