SQUID: Book the First - Chapter 2-4

"With drooping heads and tremulous tails, they mashed their way through the thick mud, floundering and stumbling between whiles, as if they were falling to pieces at the larger joints. As often as the driver rested them and brought them to a stand, with a wary ‘Wo-ho! so-hothen!’ the near leader violently shook his head and everything upon it—like an unusually emphatic horse, denying that the coach could be got up the hill. Whenever the leader made this rattle, the passenger started, as a nervous passenger might, and was disturbed in mind." Book 1, Chpt. 2, Pg. 7

This quote emphasizes the time period; the objects acknowledged were clearly objects of times in the 1700's, not modern day. For example, the people are being drawn by a carriage and struggling through treacherous pathways while now-a-days, we'd be using much more reliable transportation. Also, the phrases used such as "Wo-ho!" and "so-hothen" are not used in present day. Also in the quote, the passengers are unsure and timid which symbolizes that back then, England was a questionable place and no one could be trusted. Lastly, when the quote refers to how the near leader denied that the coach could be got up the hill, this symbolizes that England was doubtful, tired, and couldn't depend on anyone.