2001: A Space Odyssey Awe and Amazement Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Some immaterial pattern of energy throwing off a spark of radiation like the wake of a racing speedboat, had leaped from the face of the Moon, and was heading out toward the stars. (14.8)

There is lots of whooshing from earth and out towards the distance in 2001. You start here and rush out to there; the distance and the speed are both meant to be amazing and impressive.

Quote #5

It was an eerie sound, for it had nothing to do with Man; it was as lonely and as meaningless as the murmur of waves on a beach, or the distant crash of thunder beyond the horizon. (19.8)

Bowman is here listening to background radiation from space. The sense that space is bigger than humans is meant to create a sense of insignificance and impressiveness. At the same time, the point of the novel is that there are vast forces out there that do, unexpectedly, care about humans. Humans are part of a vast, cosmic plan, tied into that distant crash of thunder in unexpected ways.

Quote #6

And then, almost as if in response to his plea, Poole waved back.
For an instant, Bowman felt the skin prickling at the base of his scalp. The words he was about to call died on his suddenly parched lips. For he knew that his friend could not possibly be alive; and yet he waved. (25.31-32)

This is a zombie moment; the dead wave and come back to life. It's one of the few incidents where awe and amazement are linked up to horror (as they are in the work of writers like H.P. Lovecraft and H.G. Wells).