How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I lay awake thinking and my mind jumping around. Then I couldn’t keep away from it, and I started to think about Brett and all the rest of it went away. I was thinking about Brett and my mind stopped jumping around and started to go in sort of smooth waves. Then all of a sudden I started to cry. (4.15)
In this rare moment of release, Jake breaks down and gives in to his despair about his hopeless relationship with Brett.
Quote #5
It is awfully easy to be hard-boiled about everything in the daytime, but at night it is another thing. (4.25)
Again, Jake emphasizes just how difficult it is to stay tough and rational at night – when we’re alone in the dark, it’s hard not to think of the things that make us unhappy.
Quote #6
"Have any fun last night?" I asked.
"No, I don’t think so."
"How’s the writing going?"
"Rotten. I can’t get this second book going."
"That happens to everyone."
"Oh. I’m sure of that. It just gets me worried, though." (5.7)
This exchange between Robert Cohn and Jake reveals Cohn’s increasing anxieties about his writing and his general uncertainty about everything, even how much fun he had the previous night. His arrogance is beginning to falter as writing grows more and more difficult.