“I don’t care about the spirit of anything.”

The brutality of Seft’s early life is evident in the physical violence and emotional bullying that he endures, but also in his father’s rejection of sociability and spirituality, introducing The Formation of Competing Cultures. Cog’s violent rejection of the “spirit of the Monument” (37) shows his rejection of any kind of social spirit, as well as the moral guidance of religion. Unlike his father, Seft does care about the spirit of the Monument and this makes him different.

“She knew that Scagga had been born in some faraway place, and had been driven away by a war—a war that in his mind he still wanted to fight.”

Scagga’s natural affinity for violence comes from a place of weakness, rather than strength. He has experienced the terrors of war firsthand, so his desire to fight against the farmers is motivated by a desire not to ever be so vulnerable again. In effect, he is still fighting the same war, though this time he is determined that he will win, regardless of the suffering endured by others in his quest to right the wrongs of his past. His attitude and situation reflect The Cyclical Nature of Violence.

“Joia was awakened by the sound of two women having sex.”

While living with the priestesses, Joia gains a literal and figurative insight into her own developing sexuality. The commonality of women who love women among the priestesses awakens Joia to the possibility that she is not heterosexual, helping her to clarify her own sexual interests.

“There’s no precedent. No previous Big Man has claimed emergency powers in my lifetime.”

Troon presents himself as the embodiment of the idealized farmer, a strong and rugged men, yet his attitude is unprecedented in the community. As Big Man, Troon is reimagining farmer society in his own image, in spite of the protests of people like Yana. Troon’s power is not only over individuals, but over the entire community of farmers. He imposes himself on the idea of society by strength, promoting competition and violence over cooperation and egalitarianism.

“Seft was a master of inanimate objects such as trees and rivers, but he could not manipulate people.”

One of Joia’s most important talents is to recognize her own limitations. She knows that she possesses the intellectual knowledge needed to lead the community, but she lacks the practical knowledge needed to build a monument in stone. At the same time, she recognizes that Seft has the inverse range of talents. Together, Joia realizes, they can deliver what they both want by working together, speaking to The Power of Pursuing a Common Task.

“Troon wanted everyone to see what happened to runaway women.”

Returning with Mo bound in a rope, Troon demonstrates his style of leadership. Mo is publicly humiliated, not only to punish her, but as a public threat to other women not to attempt any similar escape. The use of public violence and humiliation as a method of coercion shows that Troon’s violence extends beyond the individual—he is imposing his violence on the community as a whole.

“She only knew that she would rather die here and now than return to Farmplace.”

Having escaped from Troon and Farmplace, Pia can begin to imagine a different life. Before they have found somewhere to settle, however, she is already concerned about returning. To Pia, Farmplace represents suffering and pain. She would “rather die” than return, which lays the foundation for the suffering that she will endure when she is dragged back to the farmer community. For Pia, the traumatic return to Farmplace will feel like death.

“Can babies eat eggs?”

Though Pia and Han have one another, Pia misses her mother. Since they have been forced into hiding, they are separated from the institutional and domestic knowledge that could be easily shared by their parents. The escape is even more precarious because it denies Pia and Han access to the specialist knowledge that might help raise their baby, leaving them more alone and vulnerable than ever.

“‘Olin fathered Han, then Olin died; and Han fathered Olin, and Han died.’ Her voice became bitter. ‘Is this the way the gods toy with us?’”

Ani learns about the name of her child at the same time she hears about the death of her son. Any joy that she might have felt to learn that Olin had been honored through the choice of baby name is eradicated by the tragic news of her son’s death. Ani feels as though she is being toyed with by forces beyond her control. Rather than the gods, however, it is the cruelty of man and The Cyclical Nature of Violence that has brought this tragedy to her life.

“The atmosphere was cheerful, a bunch of people engaged in a collective enterprise and enjoying it.”

Scagga’s attempt to start a war is a foreshadowing of Joia’s own idea of how to unite the people of the Great Plain. In Scagga’s war, the disempowered and suffering people feel as though they have a purpose. The common project gives shape and meaning to their lives, even if the intent is bloodshed. Joia’s task is to divert people from Scagga’s violence to a unifying project that is also peaceful, recognizing The Power of Pursuing a Common Task.

“You’ve killed a whole tribe.”

Ani is horrified by Scagga’s actions but he is too proud to take responsibility for his actions. Scagga does not want to confront the idea that he has inflicted on the woodlanders the same mass suffering that drove his family from their home, reflecting The Cyclical Nature of Violence. The directness of Ani’s language correlates with the seriousness and the tragedy of what Scagga has done.

“At last its eyes closed in contentment and it began to feed.”

Bez is confronted with the slaughter of his people. This slaughter fills him with a desire for revenge, as well as a belief that the gods demand balance for what Troon and his men have done. As the baby feeds on milk from its dead mother, Bez will satisfy his hunger for revenge by feeding on the death of farmers and herders. The suckling baby is a metaphor for The Cyclical Nature of Violence.

“The listeners murmured their disapproval. They knew that arrogance was a mistake that would be punished, at least in a story.”

The poet’s story of creation warns the audience of the dangers of hubris. This is not a story learned by the novel’s antagonists. In his desire to become Big Man of the entire Great Plain, for example, Troon is demonstrating a hubris of his own. Eventually, his fate mirrors that of the hubristic figures in the poet’s creation stories, as he is punished for his arrogance.

“And there was no way to prove that a person or thing was not cursed, so the accusation usually stuck.”

The religion of the Great Plains is not written down; many of the beliefs are simply intense feelings that lack a coherent theology. As such, the possibility that the greatest local monument may be cursed cannot be disproven. Rather than trying to disprove this notion with spirituality, Joia must face the awkward reality: The frequent bloodshed and destruction that take place at the Monument do, to all intents and purposes, resemble a curse. In her role as priestess, she must interpret the vague religion to demonstrate why she and her fellow priestesses are not actually cursed.

“To please the gods, and to make the people gasp with wonder.”

Joia’s explanation for the necessity of the giant stone at the Monument marries together religion and spectacle, invoking The Power of Pursuing a Common Task. Since the people of the Great Plain have no written religious text and very little in the way of formal religion, Joia feels the fundamental need of an expression of religion that transcends dance or ritual. The stone embodies the wonder that she feels from the gods, and she believes that “mak[ing] the people gasp with wonder” will help heal the fractures in their society and give them hope again.

“She had taught Seft the priestess way of counting, so she could discuss high numbers with him.”

The platonic bond between Seft and Joia is evident in the way that she teaches him to count so that they can “discuss high numbers” (431). In Seft, Joia has a personal and an intellectual confidant. The high numbers are, in essence, their own private language, a means of sharing information that is not available to others.

“He endured so much cruelty as a child that he wants never to make other people suffer that way. He told me that.”

Seft is not alone in having suffered a traumatic childhood. Ani notes how Scagga’s own trauma is the root cause of his constant yearning for violence. Seft is notable in that his experience of violence has infused him with a desire to make a different life for his family, rather than inflict his suffering on others. In contrast to Scagga, Seft wants to end The Cyclical Nature of Violence.

“She realized they were already telling the stories, true or exaggerated, that would turn the journey into a legend.”

Joia must measure the success of her mission by the rapidity with which it becomes a part of local legend and folklore. Erecting the stone at the Monument is not enough; the journey itself must become part of the legend. Not only will this help to create a mythos around the stone, it will also motivate people to return the following year and help move more stones. Joia is actively fostering the creation of a legend to promote The Power of Pursuing a Common Task.

“She was surprised at how tiring it was to be idolized.”

Joia has spent so long hoping to inspire devotion to her monument and her movement, she has not realized the extent to which she is writing herself into the religion. As high priestess, people are idolizing her personally. This attention is exhausting for Joia, who only hopes to inspire religious devotion. Joia’s lack of self-interest in becoming an idol contrasts with Troon’s hubris, subtly revealing how Joia is far more suited to true leadership.

“Then it’s in the hands of the gods.”

Pia’s attempts to rebel against Troon have failed. She has lost Han, been publicly shamed, and imprisoned, all for daring to defy him. When she exits her prison to find the farmer men gone, she is left feeling hopeless. She must overcome her pessimism to change the farmer community.

“Living together should include dying.”

Joia’s life has been dedicated to the Monument; she has forsaken her own romantic life in the pursuit of her goals. Dee changes Joia’s understanding of life, introducing a moment of doubt at the moment of her greatest success. Life and death are bound together; this is true in the romantic sense, of Joia and Dee being together, but also in that part of either Dee or Joia’s identities that must die if they are to live together.

“The women would have to run the place.”

The defeat of the farmer army has the potential to change the nature of life on the Great Plain. Though the many deaths of the male farmers are tragic, their deaths create a power vacuum in the farmer community. Troon died a physical death, but his chauvinistic, misogynistic interpretation of farmer culture may now die with him. Joia notes that, like the cycles of nature, the death of Troon offers the chance for something new to grow.

“From now on, we pretend that you’re the boss, Duff, and I’m just doing what you tell me.”

Pia wants to reinvent the farmer community but she knows that sudden change will be difficult to enact. She decides to use Duff as a puppet Big Man, creating a male figurehead for her cultural revolution that will assuage the worries of the women who are still wedded to Troon’s male-led mindset. This slight deception is necessary, Pia believes, as a small lie in the name of a greater good.