How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph.Page)
Quote #1
It's the black humor that really does it. The jokes! the man wailed. I used to hear them in France, England, Spain. And Russia! People grumbling about their hopeless governments, about the elemental and irreversible dysfunction of their countries. And Italy! The sourness, the presumption of decline. It was everywhere and now it's with us, too. That dark sarcasm. It's the killer, I swear to God. That's the sign you're down and can't get up! (II.63.14-15)
Alan gets an earful from another failed businessman who shares a plane ride with him. It appears that he's found a useful gauge to measure international despair: dark humor. It's not just Alan who feels the pinch. The global financial collapse has led to a world populated by ruined people who feel they will never claw their way back. Humor, the man argues, is a last resource. And now we know why Alan loves to tell jokes—and why his ex hated that.
Quote #2
His body was scarred everywhere from the accidents of his last five years. He'd become clumsy. He was hitting his head on cabinets. Crushing his hands in car doors. He'd fallen in an icy parking lot and walked for months like a man made of wood. He was no longer elegant. (XI.21.73)
Alan wants to believe that his clumsiness has to do with the lump growing on his neck. If he's super lucky, it will be malignant and the source of all his failures (and of his ultimate release). But really, Alan is suffering from the degradation that comes with age. It's a hard day for him when he has to admit that his one shining physical quality—his "elegance"—has left him. And it's totally impossible for him to accept that this isn't a personal insult from the universe. It just is what it is.
Quote #3
The [BP] leak devastated him. It had been unstoppable for weeks, and all he and everyone else could do was watch the plumes of oil shooting into the ocean. Alan favored every extreme method of putting an end to it. (XII.16.81)
If you've ever fallen into despair about a natural or manmade disaster on the news, you'll know exactly the angst that Alan feels when he learns about the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It's excruciating for him to watch.
Alan's sense of personal responsibility for such screw ups (like this gigantic goat rodeo of a clean up effort) is likely a reflection of his embarrassment over his short-sighted decisions in life. If only he could actually sponge up the messes he's made, Alan might have a greater sense of hope.