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)
When Alan meets a businessman on an international flight, he finds that he's not the only one who has suffered from the "globalization" of the economy. The man has seen it before in other countries—and now, it's hitting home. Language, he observes, is the canary in a coal mine here: when it turns bitter, even in humor, we know things have gone bad. This helps us put Alan's unstoppable joking into perspective.
Quote #2
"People tell jokes when they have nothing to say," she said. (IV.38.33)
Ruby has a way of slapping the happy right out of Alan. But before we peg her as a Debbie Downer, there's some truth to what she says here. Alan's constant joking is his way to create an instant bond with someone he knows nothing about—a way to "force" a friendship that isn't really there. Essentially, a joke is something to say when Alan has nothing else to go on. It's also a reflection of the deadness inside of Alan: joking makes it easier to look like he's enjoying the world, when he's clearly not.
Quote #3
She had not asked Trivole and Alan in, but now she was making way for them—simply because Trivole had begun wiping his feet. Suddenly Alan had the same feeling he had when watching a hypnotist or magician—that there were people in the world for whom the world and its people were subjects on which to cast spells. (XI.30.74)
Alan learns some of his best sales tactics from his Fuller Brush mentor Joe Trivole. In this case, it's a lesson in non-verbal language. Joe knows that there are certain physical cues that are like a call-and-response in personal interactions. Here, he relies on the woman's sense of social politeness to literally get his foot in the door.