How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #7
This regime will come to an end, she said. I have studied every angle, and it cannot last. One day all the guards will run away—they'll head that way, for the border. There will be disbelief, then confusion, then chaos, and finally a vacuum. You must have a plan ready. Act before the vacuum is filled. (201)
Mongnan makes a hope-filled prediction for Jun Do in order to prepare him for the future. Jun Do ultimately interprets her admonition to "have a plan" to mean that he should have an exit strategy (like Comrade Buc's) for when things under the current regime become unbearable.
Quote #8
We were told there were whole lobotomy collectives where former subversives now knew nothing but good-natured labor for the benefit of all. But the truth proved far different. I went with Sarge once...to interrogate a guard at one of these collectives, and we discovered no model labor farm... (316)
The Interrogator reflects on the moment when he realized that his "good work"—performing lobotomies on those brought into Division 42—was really just malicious wounding. He understands too well that the stories told by the state to motivate its workers amount to little more than outright lies. It's ironic, however, that the Interrogator himself has redefined his own work description to make himself believe that he's engaging in something nobler than torture.
Quote #9
They continue lockstep in this way, the self and the state, coming closer to one another until finally the pencil and the eraser are almost one, moving in sympathy, the line disappearing even as it's laid down, the words unwritten before the letters are formed, and finally there is only white. (317)
The Interrogator describes the autopilot, an electrical torture device that synchs the delivery of electrical impulses to the subject's brainwaves. The goal is to erase the problematic identity of the prisoner and release him or her back to the state as a compliant citizen. The Interrogator has great admiration for this technique, calling it a "beautiful dance," since the unique electrical signature of a thinking mind is subdued to the will of the state.