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“You misunderstand. This is not a punishment. Curiosity is human; I merely allowed you to get it out of your system. I have to say, it took you long enough." Then he gave her a little conspiratorial grin. "Now let’s see how long it takes Rowan to go for the ring.”
Faraday says this to Citra in Chapter 11 while explaining his decision to have Rowan start bringing his nightly milk and cookies. Though Citra assumes she is in trouble, Faraday emphasizes that her act of rebellion, though foolish, is just part of being human. This world has largely eradicated normal aspects of the human experience in its quest to build a perfect world, and one of the casualties is the curiosity that Citra displays in this scene. By succumbing to her curiosity and touching Faraday’s ring, Citra demonstrates that she is not stagnant. Instead, she is actively engaging with the world and interested in learning more. Faraday’s approach to the situation also confirms that he views curiosity as a vital aspect of the human condition, not something to discourage or quell. Faraday’s acceptance of Citra’s curiosity, and of how fundamental curiosity is for people in general, also suggests that he rejects the complacent but pervasive mindset of this world.
“Were this not the hardest thing you’ve ever done, I’d be concerned."
"Does it ever get easier?" Rowan asked.
"I certainly hope not," the scythe said.
Faraday has this exchange with Rowan in Chapter 8 after forcing his apprentice to choose the next gleaning victim. Rowan thinks the stress of selecting who will die is a highly unpleasant experience, but Faraday encourages him to see it through a broader and more positive lens. He tells him that deciding whom to glean should be hard. Discussions about stagnation in the novel often apply only to everyday people, but this scene demonstrates why scythes should not become stagnant either. Indeed, stagnant people pose little threat to anything other than their own intellect and potential, whereas stagnant scythes who become immune to the harsh realities of death can become a real threat to society if they begin to glean carelessly or cruelly. According to Faraday, one way to prevent this stagnation is to never lose the sense of pain that comes with scything, especially when deciding whom to glean.
His biggest complaint was being marginalized. But didn’t everyone feel marginalized? They lived in a world where nothing anyone did really mattered. Survival was guaranteed. Income was guaranteed. Food was plentiful, and comfort was a given. The Thunderhead saw to everyone’s needs. When you need nothing, what else can life be but pleasant?
Rowan offers these private thoughts in Chapter 24 after Volta explains Goddard’s philosophy on the necessity of pain in training. Rowan understands the point that Volta and, by extension, Goddard is making, and he unwittingly expresses a similar attitude about stagnation as Curie does in her journals. However, Curie mainly views stagnation through her own profound disappointment with modern society’s complacency, citing stalled intellectual advancement as her primary complaint. Rowan, though, recognizes in stagnation an inherent unfairness to everyday people. Rowan does not deny the upside of his stagnant existence because his life has been pleasant, but he can also see how limiting this pleasantness is. Rowan’s thoughts suggest a more fair-minded take on the issue of stagnation than other characters have. Unlike Goddard, who uses stagnation as an excuse for brutal violence in his ruthless training program, and Curie, who uses it as a metric for selecting people to glean in a futile effort to motivate people to greatness, Rowan meditates on the dehumanizing impact that stagnation has on people.
