How we cite our quotes: (Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You have taken lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty. You would marvel if, owing to strange events of some sorts, frogs and lizards suddenly grew on apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or if roses began to smell like a sweating horse; so I marvel at you who exchange heaven for earth. I don't want to understand you." (2.17)
The lawyer has given up entirely on earthly existence and now is just waiting for what he assumes will be much better—the place he'll end up in after death. What is the story saying about religious belief? That it's a refuge for those trapped in misery on earth? That it can only be really believed in as an escape and a mental health preserver?