How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Ruth was wrong; he does not want to see Janice.
The bare possibility makes him so faint that when he gets out of the car the bright sun nearly knocks him down. (4.109-4.10)
Sure, you could use this to talk about fear in Rabbit, Run. And fear is a major aspect of Rabbit’s transience: fear of Janice, fear of home, fear of transience itself.
Quote #8
"Now if I were to leave my wife," he [Eccles] says, I’d get into a car and drive a thousand miles." It seemed almost like advice, coming calmly from above the white collar.
"That’s what I did!" Rabbit cries, delighted by how much they have in common. (4.72-4.73)
Is Eccles just saying this to get close to Rabbit? It doesn’t jive. This guy worships marriage. Maybe Rabbit brings out his latent transient desires. If so, it’s ironic – Eccles’ mission in Rabbit, Run is to root for Rabbit in his life with Janice.
Quote #9
Out of all his remembered life the one place that comes forward where he can stand without the ground turning into faces he is treading on is the lot outside the diner in West Virginia after he went in and had a cup of coffee the night he drove down there. (15.51)
This seems pretty way out. He felt completely alienated in the diner and when he was in the parking lot, so why does it seem like such a happy place now?…Oh yeah, because he was so alienated. Perhaps if we are completely alienated from everyone, we will have no responsibilities but to ourselves. At this moment, Rabbit feels like such a menace to society that extreme alienation is a relief.