"The Industrial Revolution had turned people into cogs. Their function was to keep the machines up and running. [Mary] was conceived and she was a tiny cog in her mother's belly. All the pregnant women in the city were manufacturing indispensable parts to the machine. The machines were living, breathing things. You could hear them coughing and sputtering through the day. They breathed heavily. As you passed by one of them you could feel their heart beating under your feet."

This passage really stood out to me, especially for how aptly it illustrates how machines started to supersede humans at the time. I think it's still especially relevant now as tech companies continue to push AI on people and sometimes sell it as a better way to "think." Not only that, but these developers are also trying to force their way into our freshwater supply even though it's more important for us humans to consume it.

It's also just always interesting to me to think about the Industrial Revolution as a time when machines were first lauded as tools to ease the workload on people, even though the machines required more people in dangerous situations to operate. Especially when you consider how long and how much work it took for laborers to win rights regarding their safety and health.

Lastly, I love the middle part about the pregnant women "manufacturing indispensable parts to the machine." Over and over again, women are shown as the integral part of any structure, whether it's social, the home, the workforce, etc., yet over and over, they're treated as unimportant and replaceable. Even Marie, with all her riches, will someday be forced to submit to a man when she marries.

Really enjoying the observations on class and privilege in this book, especially as we get more into the life of the factory workers.