How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I get the willies when I see closed doors. Even at work, where I am doing so well now, the sight of a closed door is sometimes enough to make me dread that something horrible is happening behind it, something that is going to affect me adversely; if I am tired and dejected from a night of lies or booze or sex or just plain nerves and insomnia, I can almost smell the disaster mounting invisibly and flooding out toward me through the frosted glass panes. My hands may perspire, and my voice may come out strange. I wonder why. Something must have happened to me sometime. (1.1)
Slocum's fear of closed doors comes from accidentally catching his father in bed with his mother one time. Or maybe it comes from the knowledge that he was poor, or that his father died unexpectedly. Or maybe it comes from the sad, discouraging realization that no matter what in life he tries to do, somebody close by will always be able to do it much better. Well, whatever it was that caused Slocum to get the willies each time he sees closed doors, it must have been pretty tremendous.
Quote #2
When friends, relatives, and business acquaintances are stricken with heart attacks now, I never call the hospital or hospital room to find out how they are, because there's always the danger I might find out they are dead. I try not to talk to their wives and children until I've first checked with somebody else who has talked to them and can give me the assurance I want that everything is no worse than before. (1.10)
There are many things Slocum never wants to find out, and one is them is that anybody he knows is dead. His aversion to hospitals stems from his fear of opening a door of a private room and coming upon some awful sight for which he could not have prepared himself (such as the time he saw a rubber tube running down from inside someone's nostril).
Quote #3
Something did happen to me somewhere that robbed me of confidence and courage and left me with a fear of discovery and change and a positive dread of everything unknown that may occur. I dislike anything unexpected. (1.15)
Slocum dislikes anything sudden, from death to rearranging office furniture to surprises that are organized to bring him pleasure. They always end with an aftertaste of sorrow and self-pity, a feeling that he has been exploited for someone else's delight.