This is a manipulation tactic. I did this thing, so now you should be grateful.

This is interesting. This certain experiment looks as though they are preparing people, prisoners, to be able to work long hours without discomfort. I think this is referring to changing labor laws so that the worker has no excuse to not be at work for the majority of the day.

Jeff is starting to figure out the method behind the experiments he has been going through all day and is now able to predict what is going to happen to him. I think this is a start of a personal revolution for him. Maybe this is hinting that something, like an escape as the title says, will happen later in the story.

I am assuming this means their living quarters.

It is actually pretty creepy how this lab is controlling the romantic emotions of these people. However, all they made these people do is have sex. Is that really love or is that just lust?

Bible reference.

This certain drug, as I'll call it, causes extreme pain and discomfort within their mobipaks and it makes them feel suicidal. I think this story is in reference to our prison system. Once you are in the U.S. prison system, you are owned by the government and that is pretty depressing.

Reference to the title. This control room is what is behind the scenes of these science experiments. This seems to be the operating room for all of the little experiments in whatever kind of creepy place this is.

I think a mobipak is a type of tracking devise that is attached to all the people here. It seems like some kind of prison because of the way he talks about crime. Now, they are forced into doing these science experiments.

I am kind of getting the feeling that these are some time of psychotropic drugs that they are testing. Jeff is experiencing a heightened sense of reality with whatever is in the drip and it is making him see the world through a better lense.

Memory is the symbol of time passed and old dreams.

I interpreted this to mean that this woman was the typical hard working American striving for the American dream. She used her skills in gardening and agriculture to her advantage, as if she was "tending to someone else's garden".

to loom- appear as a shadowy form

reside- permanent home in a particular place, where one is situated

Is he comparing himself to rats and bedbugs? I think he may be referring to the fact that he and his family were not treated very well in their workplace and furthermore start to accept their "place" in society.

While out in the battlefield, he was surrounded by mud and could not get away from it. It even covered the remains of people who have passed in the war. Their remains are forgotten in the mud as wagons pass over them.

The dog was only loyal to his original owner, his "one man".

This family had to give up there dogs while they were being evacuated. The dogs could not survive with different owners because their attachment was with their original family.

Everything was how it should be before the war. There were no complications or problems.

People will only see the negative parts of a person. Even within ourselves, we tend to only pick out the "bad" parts and never recognize the good parts. This girl was very smart and strong, but that wasn't enough for everyone else.

I think these lines represent the girl finally accepting that to be beautiful, she has to get rid of the parts of her that are not beautiful. I did not take these lines literally at first, but in the next section it is evident that she may have really caused herself physical harm.

I think this is something a lot of girls relate to. The moment girls hit puberty, its as if every part of their being is being scrutinized by others. Nothing is ever perfect enough.

Owen's purpose in life was to investigate the invisible. In the previous paragraph Owen seems to be nudged in the right direction by Providence, or fate, and realizes that his creative spirit is his purpose in life, no matter how silly it seems to other people.

Owen has changed because of constant pressure from the outside world. He no longer strives to investigate the invisible and he no longer wishes to continue with his creative mind. He is accepting that he has to be "normal" in society's eyes. I think it is a terrible thing when people change themselves just so that they can be accepted by others.

This is the first time someone has shown a genuine interest in Owen's work. I think this really motivated Owen to continue with his creative work instead of succumbing to society's pressure to work a practical profession.