How we cite our quotes: (Preface if applicable, Paragraph)
Quote #4
Many of these natures are wholly incapable of ever having recourse to real suicide, because they have a profound consciousness of the sin of doing so. For us they are suicides nonetheless; for they see death and not life as the releaser. (40)
This is an interesting take on suicide, because it isn't about the act of actually killing oneself; it counts the desire to do so in and of itself as suicide. Do you think it's possible to live as a suicide without ever committing suicide?
Quote #5
He gained strength through familiarity with the thought that the emergency exit stood always open, and became curious, too, to taste his sufferings to the dregs. (41)
Comparing suicide to an emergency exit is metaphor that shows us how Harry sees life as a state of urgency and danger. Instead of something to enjoy, life becomes an emergency that must be escaped from.
Quote #6
He appointed his fiftieth birthday as the day on which he might allow himself to take his own life. (42)
Well, happy birthday to you, Harry. This gives Harry a reason to keep on living, paradoxically, because he knows that he can always kill himself later. What a way to celebrate. How would the novel be different if Harry had chosen his 18th birthday or his 30th, for example?