Society and Class Quotes in Me Before You

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

I'm not the kind of person this happened to. Or at least, I thought I wasn't. (8.3)

Camilla Traynor's upper-class status has blinded her from reality in many ways. Fate is a random thing, and it doesn't check your bank account balance before dealing its cards.

Quote #5

With ordinary people [...] most would stare. [...] Here's the thing about middle-class people. They pretend not to look, but they do. (12.48-49)

First off, we love that Lou refers to working-class folks as "ordinary" and middle- and upper-class people as weirdoes. This is some great insight into the cultural differences between the classes—but it also shows how each class thinks of itself and other classes. Whoever you are, you probably think that you and those like you are ordinary, while everyone else is a weirdo in some way.

Quote #6

But if I had found it hard to get employment, prospects for a fifty-five-year-old man who had only ever held one job were harder. (14.11)

This is an issue that's as relevant now as ever. Mr. Clark has been a factory worker for his entire life, and that doesn't necessarily make for the most compelling LinkedIn profile. Still, the dude is an incredibly hard worker and a good man—shouldn't that count for something?