How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Dad once said, "Someday I want to live a life where I won't be bullied by my wallet." I wished that someday would arrive soon because his wallet was a really big bully that said "No" and 'Put that back' all the time. (7.22)
No major earth-shatteringly important issue here. This just gives us a view of the family's finances. While they're not dirt-poor, having a little more money would certainly make their lives more comfortable. We also see some nifty personification at work, with Jack's dad's wallet represented as a bully—so we get a little more insight into how clever Jack is.
Quote #5
Cash just means you get to be a big shot and cut to the front of the line [...] or get what you want right away. (7.34)
Jack's mom is really bummed about the decline of the original barter economy of Norvelt, and its replacement with a "cash only" policy. On the other hand, people can have lots of goods, too—so if you've the one with, say, the most jars of home-canned preserves, wouldn't you be able to cut to the front of the line, too? One difference might be that it's a lot harder to hoard, say, a thousand goats than a thousand dollars. You can just leave a thousand dollars under a mattress, but a thousand goats—that's a lot of manure.
Quote #6
"Henry Ford declared that the perfect assembly line factory worker would be a blind man because he could learn one exact task and repeat it endlessly for the rest of his life." (18.12)
The image here is basically that of dehumanization: the worker basically functions as a machine. Great for management, not so great for the workers. Who could possibly want to perform the same exact task for the rest of his life? Or stay sane doing it?