And then, of course, there is the flag that hangs in every classroom, dangling just over her left shoulder like a raised axe.
-- Bird (Part I)

Importance: This quote signals the violence that the government inflicts on its citizens through PACT and child removals. By comparing the flag to an axe, Ng foreshadows the government-approved atrocities that the book will explore. The flag is also placed in the classroom, symbolizing how the education system indoctrinates young students into PACT’s ideology.

We don’t burn our books, she says. We pulp them. Much more civilized, right?
-- Carina (the librarian) (Part I)

Importance: This quote exposes the irony of PACT-era America. Although the government claims to pass the racist law and censor literary works in order to support American “culture and traditions,” it goes against American ideals like freedom of speech and expression. Instead of openly “burning” books (possibly alluding to the famous dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, in which...