How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I do not do this voluntarily. It's a weakness, I know, a failure of character or morals, this subtle, sneaky, almost enslaving instinct to be like just about anyone I happen to find myself with. It happens not only in matters of speech, but with physical actions as well, in ways I walk or sit or tilt my head or place my arms or hands. (3.5)
Slocum does not realize he has "slipped" into someone else's personality until he is already in there. He takes on the nature of another who has a more powerful personality trait than his own, which causes him to wonder what his own true nature is—or if he even has one.
Quote #2
(There are times, in fact, when I open one of my closet doors and am struck with astonishment by the clothes I find hanging inside. They are all mine, of course, but, for a moment, it's as though I had never seen many of them before.) And I sometimes feel that I would not spend so much time and money and energy chasing around after girls and other women if I were not so frequently in the company of other men who do, or talk as though they wanted to. (3.7)
Slocum doesn't recognize himself at times, and he always feels as if he is copying somebody else. Are the men Slocum works with really to blame for his infidelities? Or is that taking things a bit too far?
Quote #3
I steer clear of people with tics, squints, and facial twitches; these are additional characteristics I don't want to acquire. The problem is that I don't know who or what I really am. (3.8)
While Slocum doesn't mind positive traits rubbing off on him, he dreads negative ones seeping into his life. Slocum avoids being around people who stutter, for fear that he will begin to talk with stutter himself.