How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
But I am making no plans to leave.
I have the feeling now that there is no place left for me to go. (2.61)
Though Slocum is dissatisfied with his job, he feels somewhat trapped in it. Besides, if he were to leave, either his job or his family, where would he go? What would he do? Just more of the same?
Quote #5
I've got an unhappy wife to support and two unhappy children to take care of. (I've got that other child with irremediable brain damage who is neither happy nor unhappy, and I don't know what will happen to him after we're dead.) I've got eight unhappy people working for me who have problems and unhappy dependents of their own. I've got anxiety; I suppress hysteria. (2.139)
Slocum is just as dissatisfied with things as those around him, both at home and in the office. This might contribute to some of his anxieties, but he's able to easily hide them. If Slocum's hiding this much emotional turmoil, then who's to say everyone else isn't also hiding the same thing?
Quote #6
It was after the war, I think, that the struggle really began. (3.40)
Slocum's best years were arguably those while he was away fighting during World War II. Life then had a purpose: he was making the world a better place. Life after that has been a struggle, one disappointment following another.