It was very bad if the council had resorted to recruiting men. By tradition men were our last line of defence, their physical strength bent towards the single and most important task of protecting our homes and children. This meant the council had decided that our only defence was to defeat the enemy, period. Anything else meant the end of Darre.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the necessity of defending one's home and children, revealing the weight of tradition and the urgency of survival in dire times.
In this quote, N.K. Jemisin underscores the gravity of the situation in which the council finds itself, suggesting that turning to men for defense signifies a serious threat to their way of life. The emphasis on physical strength and the traditional role of men as protectors highlights the dire circumstances that have forced the society to rely on their last line of defense against potential destruction, reinforcing the themes of survival and the desperation inherent in conflict.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the importance of protecting one's community during a crisis.
So here is why I write what I do: We all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from us or what poison we’ve internalized or how hard we’ve had to work to expel it – – we all get to dream.
There is nothing foolish about hope.
But love like that doesn't just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always a little love left, underneath. Yes. Horrible, isn't it?
There is no greater warrior than a mother protecting her child.
Love betrayed has an entirely different sound from hatred outright.
Any woman can face the world alone, but why should we have to?
I started shooting when I was much too far away. That was merely a trick of mine. I did not mean so much as to hit him as to frighten him, and I succeeded in catching him. He began flying curves and this enabled me to draw near.
One day I'm going to go up in a helicopter and it'll just blow up. MI5 will do away with me
When I think about my Glamazon, would that character get down if someone said her thighs were heavy? No, she knows what other people think is none of her damn business.
It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists' ] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy.
The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.
Alpinism means you go by yourself with your own responsibility, knowing that you could die. But Everest now is more like ski tourism: preparing the piste, helping people go up, setting oxygen bottles near the summit.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.