Unificationists are dissidents who want Besźel and Ul Qoma to fuse into one city.
Unificationists Quotes in The City & the City
The The City & the City quotes below are all either spoken by Unificationists or refer to Unificationists. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5
Quotes
A political irony. Those most dedicated to the perforation of the boundary between Besźel and Ul Qoma had to observe it most carefully. If I or one of my friends were to have a moment’s failure of unseeing (and who did not do that? Who failed to fail to see, sometimes?), so long as it was not flaunted or indulged in, we should not be in danger. If I were to glance a second or two on some attractive passerby in Ul Qoma, if I were to silently enjoy the skyline of the two cities together, be irritated by the noise of an Ul Qoman train, I would not be taken.
Here, though, at this building not just my colleagues but the powers of Breach were always wrathful and as Old Testament as they had the powers and right to be. That terrible presence might appear and disappear a unificationist for even a somatic breach, a startled jump at a misfiring Ul Qoma car.
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Unificationists Term Timeline in The City & the City
The timeline below shows where the term Unificationists appears in The City & the City. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...to a friend in the Dissident Unit, which has inspired him to start looking into unificationists. He suggests that Corwi start this work tomorrow, adding that he will be in touch...
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...for a moment of reflection, Borlú concludes that Marya and the informant must both be unificationists. He looks out the window at a passerby who is not in Besźel, and keeps...
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Chapter 5
...Borlú’s tip, trying to intimidate people, and eventually found out that 68 BudapestStrász is a “unificationist HQ.” Like other political groups, unificationists are divided along many different issues. Some target newcomers...
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...such that they register only as a vague hum. Now, Corwi introduces him to a unificationist named Pall Drodin, and to both Corwi and Drodin’s shock, Borlú brings up breach. After...
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The unificationist group here is called the Besźqoma Solidarity Front. On the wall, there are maps of...
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...would talk to Drodin about the history of the cities, the unification efforts, and the unificationists imprisoned for their political beliefs in both Besźel and Ul Qoma. Drodin says that he...
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Drodin repeats that Byela was dangerous, because, as unificationists, he and his comrades are subject to disproportionate scrutiny by Breach. While ordinary citizens are...
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Chapter 7
...angered the nationalists might not be true. Corwi notes that they know she upset the unificationists, and wonders if there are “any extremists she hasn’t made angry.” Borlú suggests they do...
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Chapter 9
Another man suggests that Mahalia was a unificationist or a spy. A black car arrives and a middle-aged man gets out. He introduces...
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Chapter 14
...says he has no idea who the person was, but thinks they might be a unificationist. Dhatt immediately gets up and announces they should “go fucking detecting!” Driving quickly and erratically,...
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Unificationists are not legally recognized in Ul Qoma; neither are socialist, fascist, or religious political parties....
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...promising lead. Borlú replies that he doesn’t think the call came from one of the unificationists, and he’s not sure if it even came from Ul Qoma at all. Dhatt suggests...
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Chapter 16
...That night, while he is asleep, Borlú’s cell phone rings; it is one of the unificationists from the house where Borlú went with Dhatt, called Jaris. Jaris thanks Borlú for not...
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Mahalia was kicked out of the unificationist meetings for being “dangerous,” but she told Jaris privately that she’d found Orciny. She’d “made...
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Mrs. Geary promises that she and her husband are going to track down all the unificationists and nationalists, because they are sure one of them murdered Mahalia. After hanging up, Borlú...
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Chapter 17
...congregate like they are in Besźel, and are not treated with the same lenience as unificationists, who are not taken seriously as a threat. Dhatt asks about Aikam, whom Buidze describes...
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Chapter 26
...bus crash was intentional, Besź and Ul Qoman unifications planned it together. This is the unificationist “insurrection,” a dramatic attempt to fuse the cities. Borlú stresses that it can’t be a...
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Chapter 27
...around in flight and glee; windows have been broken and fires started. Borlú spots a unificationist gang spray painting the words “TOGETHER! UNITY!” in both Besź and Illitan. Very quickly, the...
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...stealing from Ul Qoma. He accuses Breach of protecting Ul Qoma. He continues that the unificationists are right to assert that there is only one city, but adds, “that city is...
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