"Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all of the patterns away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules even if you spent all your time thinking about them." (Haddon 12)
I don't really understand what he means by this. The part I don't get is "you could never work out the rules." The rules are easy to figure out because there is only one. A prime number is an integer whose only factors are one and itself. The only confusing prime number is two, which is an anomaly because it is the only even prime number. Other than that, prime numbers are easy to figure out. Since the main character of the story knows so many prime numbers, it seems strange that he would say something like this.
If I were to revise the statement, I would say that life is more like a composite number than a prime number. With a prime number, there is only one way to get to your answer, whereas with a composite number there are multiple avenues of approach. Just as life does, composite numbers give you options. That makes more sense to me than saying that life is like prime numbers.
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