How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
She had morphia every night, and her heart got fitful […] His mother was wasted and almost ashen in the morning with the morphia. Darker and darker grew her eyes, all pupil, with the torture. (14.258)
As Mrs. Morel takes more morphine, her pupils grow so large that her eyes seem to turn completely black. This blackness could represent the life that's being squeezed out of her by death. It could also show that the morphine is taking complete possession of Mrs. Morel, like some sort of demon or zombie-virus.
Quote #8
"She'll live over Christmas," said Annie. They were both full of horror.
"She won't," he replied grimly. "I s'll give her morphia."
"Which?" said Annie.
"All that came from Sheffield," said Paul.
"Ay—do!" said Annie. (14.282-14.286)
It's almost impossible to tell whether Paul and Annie are serious in this conversation, or if they're indulging the same dark humor you see in Chapter 4 when they burn Annie's doll. In any case, the scene makes a clear connection between the effort to numb pain and the movement toward death.
Quote #9
So he was always in the town at one place or another, drinking, knocking about with the men he knew. It really wearied him. He talked to barmaids, to almost any woman, but there was that dark, strained look in his eyes, as if he were hunting something. (15.3)
After his mother passes away, Paul becomes an alcoholic, just like his father. He spends most of his nights wandering from bar to bar and hitting on women he doesn't really care about. He's searching for some guiding force in his life, but he can't find one, so he keeps drinking to numb his loneliness.