How we cite our quotes: (Poem.Paragraph)
Quote #7
How much longer would they last? How long before one of them got stabbed in a bar fight, not just knocked out? How long before this old truck swerved off the road or head-on into a bus? But it didn't make much difference anyway. The drinking and hell raising were just things they did, [ . . . ] passing the time away, waiting for it to end. (XXI.76)
Tayo starts to think seriously about the dangers of his friends' excessive drinking. But even though he's becoming aware of the risks, he isn't fully convinced that drinking is a bad thing. After all, he's not really interested in staying alive at this point.
Quote #8
From the doorway of a second-hand store he could see feet, toes poking through holes in the socks. Someone sleeping off the night before, but without his boots now, because somebody had taken them to trade for a bottle of cheap wine. The guy had his head against the door; his brown face was peaceful and he was snoring loudly. (XXII.9)
The sleeping drunk is a stock comic figure, and Tayo smiles when he sees this one. But there's a dark side: serious societal problems like alcoholism and poverty lie under the seemingly harmless surface.