How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Death is not a lazy fellow. (24.30)
Certainly not, if we consider how many times we see the Grim Reaper hanging out (literally!) in Norvelt. Miss Volker uses personification to comment on the town's increasing body count. (We wonder: does thinking of Death as a real dude make it more or less scary?) Oh, and the image also parallels the comic scenes of Jack running around in his Grim Reaper costume (complete with plastic scythe).
Quote #8
People will pass on, but we must preserve our history. (25.6)
This is Miss Volker's response to Mr. Greene's editorial about the suspicious deaths. She's saying that each person is a small paragraph in the overall narrative of the town's important history, but it is important that the entire story be preserved. The individuals' deaths should be mourned, but there is no reason for mass hysteria. People die—especially old people, and life goes on.
Quote #9
We thank him for providing food, and even though his death gives us life, it is hard to thank even an animal enough for that. (27.3)
Jack is starting to lose his knee-jerk fear of death as he starts to recognize what he will later articulate as, "Life is a cycle" (28.48)—that the deer's death will contribute to someone's life (in the form of nourishment). And that's not something we should take lightly. (Although we don't necessarily need to break out into song every time we kill a spider.)