How we cite our quotes: (Part.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
I felt sick. I felt tired. And I suddenly realized that being sick and being tired was a way of trying to get out of it. (2.5.57)
During therapy with Stern, Gerry describes how he feels as he's pushing himself to embark on a journey into his painful memories. His feelings of exhaustion and sickness are defense mechanisms his mind is using in an effort to escape the painful memories. Kind of like when you pretend you're too sick to go to class…except these feelings are ones Gerry's actually experiencing.
Quote #8
"When you wouldn't get into the recollection, I tried to nudge you into it by using your own voice as you recounted it before. It works wonders sometimes [...] You were on the trembling verge of going into the thing you don't want to remember, and you let yourself go unconscious rather than do it" (2.10.5-7)
Stern explains why he used the tape recorder to play back Gerry saying "Baby is three." Come on, in 1953, tape decks were cool. Anyway, the point is that defense mechanisms against remembering can be so strong that a person simply cannot access the memories. Gadgets like tape recorders can defuse the defenses and make it all come rushing back, whether you want it to or not.
Quote #9
"You talk about occlusions! I couldn't get past the 'Baby is three' thing because in it lay the clues to what I really am. I couldn't find that out beause I was afraid to remember that I was two things—Miss Kew's little boy, and something a hell of a lot bigger." (2.14.12)
Okay, the confusing "Baby is three" phrase: let's tackle it. Simply put, Gerry didn't want to remove the block—also known as an occlusion—because it would mean recalling his nature as a gestalt life form and the fact that he basically just murdered his mother-figure.