Quote 4
I was not present at Ruth May's birth but I have seen it now, because I saw each step of it played out in reverse at the end of her life. The closing parenthesis. [...] Now she will wait the rest of the time. It will be exactly as long as the time that passed before she was born. (4.10.2)
Adah describes death as the opposite of birth, like a personal circle of life. We return to the oblivion we came from. (Oh, and it sounds like Adah's been reading some e. e. cummings.)
Quote 5
The loss of a life: unwelcome. Immoral? I don't know. (6.3.3)
Adah encounters quite a dilemma as a doctor in the United States. In the Congo, death is a sometimes necessary part of life. It prevents overpopulation, and the hunger and conflict that results from it. Plus, Adah doesn't separate human life from "life" in general. All living things matter to her.
Quote 6
The death of something living is the price of our survival, and we pay it again and again. We have no choice. It is the one solemn promise every life on earth is born and bound to keep. (4.3.12)
This is Adah's observation after the hunt, and this is probably why she had a so-what attitude about the lion. If humans will kill and eat animals without a second thought, why shouldn't animals be allowed a fair crack at humans?