How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #7
SAM. [. . .] People get hurt in all that bumping, and we're sick and tired of it now. It's been going on for too long. (1407-1409)
On the surface it sounds like Sam's talking about bad dancing – people bumping into one another on the dance floor. But what he really means are the ways people hurt one another, work against each other rather than together. We see this happening before our eyes in the play.
Quote #8
SAM. St. George's Park Tea Room…Yes, Madam…Hally, it's your Mom.
HALLY. (Back to reality) Oh, God, yes! I'd forgotten all about that. S***! Remember my words, Sam? Just when you're enjoying yourself, someone or something will come along and wreck everything. (1448-1453)
Reality intrudes into Hally's reminiscing and talking about dancing when his mother calls. It immediately knocks him off track and brings him down. Rather than take satisfaction as the norm and see the troubles as temporary, he takes dissatisfaction as the normal state of affairs and sees joy as fleeting. It's a recipe for misery. In his defense, when things are miserable at home for a child, that's the basic emotional tone of his life. It's hard to stay happy anywhere else.
Quote #9
(HALLY gets up abruptly, goes to his table and tears up the page he was writing on)
HALLY. So much for a bloody world without collisions.SAM. Too bad. It was on its way to being a good composition.
HALLY. Let's stop bullshitting ourselves, Sam.
Hally and Sam have composed an idealized version of the world. They use the dance floor as a metaphor for life; if everyone stuck to their steps and paid attention to others, they wouldn't be running into one another, making each other miserable. But Hally gives up, literally tearing up their ideals and hopes.