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Barricades
Central is the government that takes charge over both urban and rural areas, erecting the Barricades between the two landscapes. Despite the massive ecological and political changes that impact the narrator’s life, the same government remains in power for over a decade. Central is shown to have several branches, including Land Management, Grief, Verification, and Rescue; over the course of his bureaucratic career, the narrator works in many of these departments.
Central Quotes in Things We Didn’t See Coming
The Things We Didn’t See Coming quotes below are all either spoken by Central or refer to Central. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Theft That Got Me Here
Quotes
“I worked for the state, back when the state took care of its own. Like you, I had grand and noble responsibilities to all, but I still had to deal with individuals. I'm sure you know the difficulty. Sometimes those two things can be at cross purposes, say, when one child is a bit behind, maybe keeping the others from moving on. What should you do? Ignore the child? I found that I had no choice in the matter as soon as I started seeing the class as more important than the student, the children were lost, I was lost. Nothing was grand, nothing was noble. Do you understand what I'm saying? […] Anything named Central doesn't even know what you look like. I do, and I'm watching you to see that you make the right decision here.”
He waved us through.
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Central Term Timeline in Things We Didn’t See Coming
The timeline below shows where the term Central appears in Things We Didn’t See Coming. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Theft That Got Me Here
...responsibility to individuals. The young guard is worried that he will get in trouble with Central for letting them through, but Grandma assures him “anything named Central doesn’t even know what...
(full context)
Uses for Vinegar
...takes out three fake ID cards—which she knows the narrator is duty-bound to report to Central.
(full context)
...this; she replies that “I wanted to see you.” The narrator keeps looking over at Central’s desk, but Margo is certain he will not report her. Instead, Margo flirts with the...
(full context)
