How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Two dead dogs on a highway seconds apart lead me to think my sanity is finally going and that it is no longer possible for me to separate what I see from what I remember or what I don't want to see. In flickers of disorientation I often glimpse in silhouette from the rear or side people I did not know well and have not seen or thought about in decades. (6.144)
Real and imagined events run into each other and mix in Slocum's mind, and things become hazy and indistinguishable. Is this perhaps because Slocum's real life is somehow not quite "real"?
Quote #8
There are even mornings now when I catch myself scrutinizing her for stains and blemishes obsessively with the same aggressive and scavenging suspicions, and this, I know, is irrational, for she has spent the night in bed with me. I don't want to go crazy. I like to keep tight rein on my reason, thoughts, and actions, and to know always which is which. I don't want to lose my inhibitions. (6.191)
Though Slocum doesn't think his wife is smart enough to have an affair, he still remains paranoid that she might. Is this something most housewives do? Or is Slocum simply imagining the signs? Why might so many housewives have affairs, anyway? Are they unfulfilled? As unfulfilled as their office-worker husbands?
Quote #9
(And am not positive if I did. I sometimes think of saying something and am not certain afterward if I did. Even in conversations I know are imaginary, I'm not always sure I remember what I've imagined.) (6.265)
Slocum has a difficult time distinguishing his thoughts from reality. This makes sense, because he exists in a world where he cannot say what he thinks. When thoughts become so bottled up inside of him, perhaps he thinks that he has lifted the throttle and blurted it all out.