How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"We're kinder side-tracked here now," he added, "but there was considerable passing before the railroad was carried through to the Flats." (Prologue.55)
The railroad does not stop in Starkfield. It does stop in other towns. For some reason Starkfield got left off of the map to progress.
Quote #5
"But after the trains begun running nobody ever come by here to speak of and mother never could get it through her head what had happened, and it preyed on her right along till she died." (Prologue.55)
This is just more evidence that Starkfield has been running backwards for quite some time, and that its inhabitants didn't know how to deal with it. It also shows how sometimes progress for one place, can lead to isolation for another.
Quote #6
Ethan's love of nature did not take the form of a taste for agriculture. He had always wanted to be an engineer, and to live in towns, where there were lectures and big libraries and "fellows doing things." (4.7)
This quote could also go under "Dreams, Hopes, and Plans," but we want it here to show Ethan's desire for progress, and modernity. His life is the exact opposite of what he wants it to be.