Vosch Breaking Ben (Motif)
"He leans forward, willing me to answer with my own. 'One day, Private Ringer, you're going to smile at something I say and the world will break in half." (3)
This shows the motif that Vosch continually voices about Ben. It carries over from the previous book when Vosch first said he would break Ben and fill him up with hate. This quote shows that the motif continues on to this book and that Vosch's goals haven't changed.
Rats (Symbol)
"It's like the rats, isn't it, Cup? Just like the rats." (22)
"Then they're gonna win. Against us. A bunch of rats." (26)
Ringer thinks this to herself. She realizes that the way the aliens see humans is the same way that humans saw rats. The same level of hate and distaste is leveled at humans now. Ringer is puzzled by this distaste and finds it to be too personal, and its a question that stays in her mind until the end of the book, when she realizes that humans are killing other humans that they perceive as inferior.
Chess (Symbol)
"In a vain attempt to distract her, I began teaching her chess, using a towel for a board and coins for the pieces." (23)
Ringer begins to teach Teacup chess. This is a symbol of her affection and motherly role for Teacup, as well as Ringer's continued desire to return to the world as it once was. Chess is the one holdover that Ringer allows herself, and the only thing that she truly treasures from her previous life.
The Truth is Too Ugly (Motif)
"It isn't that the lies are too beautiful to resist. It's that the truth is too hideous to face." (220)
Ringer thinks this to herself as she lies in the hospital bed, the new arrays coursing in her veins as Vosch forces her body to evolve to the next level over the course of a few days. This is a motif throughout the rest of the book and reveals that humanity was blind to the truth because it was too ugly and unacceptable to face easily. Humanity willfully believed a lie in order to hide from greater pain - that fellow humans caused this awful pain and death to their own species.
Only the Strong Remain (Motif)
"By this point, wafflers and wusses have been winnowed out. There are no pussies left." (225)
This is another motif, expressed by Ringer to Razor. It illustrates the thoroughness of Vosch's plan and how it affects those left and how they will work with one another. This motif was also expressed by Cassie in the first book, when she continually emphasized that only the strong remain, like Ben, who fought off the plague to become Zombie, a hardened soldier and protector.
