How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph.Page)
Quote #7
How could he have predicted the world losing interest in people like him? (XVIII.11.141)
This sums up all of Alan's existential angst—and, btw, everyone else's. Alan's really experiencing something universal: the sense that human usefulness and relevance fades as we age. Alan struggles to understand his purpose on the Reliant team (what skills does he really have?) and his place in the life of his family (who really needs him?). In the end, Alan's just gonna have to deal with it—like everybody else.
Quote #8
There would be a time when the world created people stronger than them. When all of this got worked out. But until then there would be men and women like Hanne and Alan, who were imperfect and had no path toward perfection (XXII.119.191)
Alan finds himself in a really awkward place: Hanne's bathtub. He doesn't really want to be there, but he isn't courageous enough to step away. He doesn't want to hurt her feelings, but he has none. This is the scene as we leave them, each not quite getting what they want from the other. But is Eggers speaking tongue-in-cheek here? Hanne and Alan are not perfect because they're humans. What makes Mr. Narrator so sure that, one day, humans will be any better?
Quote #9
We push the buttons that provide the rewards. Again the greatest use of a human was to be useful. Not to consume, not to watch, but to do something for someone else that improved their life, even for a few minutes. (XXII.115.191)
So Alan's not having the most fulfilling love life in the world. He may get an invite into Hanne's bathtub, but he's not really feeling it. Hanne's a little more, um, practical about the whole situation. She has needs, and it doesn't really matter that Alan isn't Mr. Right.
But to Alan, the whole scenario makes him feel objectified: he's nothing more than a worker on an assembly line that knows how to work the machinery. And this leads to a more terrifying thought: is this the ultimate purpose of human existence?