How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
[Desdemona] didn't like being left on earth. (3.4.1)
Desdemona has a difficult time coping with, well, life in general when she gets to be as old as she is. (Late seventies, she says.) When you don't have any friends, and your husband is dead, how can you go on living?
Quote #8
[Desdemona was] not a member of a band of immortals from Mount Olympus. Just the only member left alive. (3.4.88)
Desdemona might just be the only link left to her village, which was practically eradicated by the Turks when she fled at the turn of the century. What knowledge will be lost when she finally dies?
Quote #9
The last thing the hockey ball symbolized was Time itself, the unstoppability of it, the way we're chained to our bodies, which are chained to Time. (3.5.12)
People aren't the only things getting old—the planet is getting old, and human civilization is getting old together. Notice that Eugenides capitalizes Time here. (This stunt was performed by a trained professional, kids, so don't try it at home… unless you have a really good reason.) We're all getting old together, every day.